All this makes me wonder if I should simply start avoiding consumer "hifi" products and stick to no bullshit professional..........
Since "no bullshit professional" gear is generally involved in entertainment production, I'm not thinking of a good reason to avoid it, as long as the specification, function, and execution meet your criteria.
Mix and match to fill your needs. I seem to.
My
panel speakers aren't pro, but I don't need to pound a bunch of drunken dancers in a club. Nevertheless, they'll play unbearably loudly in this room.
Oh wait, my little
JBLs are "pro"...
My subs aren't pro or audiophile at all. With a little external DSP applied they're giving pretty good service. Bought for experimentation, maybe not even needed here.
My main amps amd preamp aren't pro, but I used a PA amp at home in the past.
ABSystems 1200b "King of the Jungle". It's still in the garage. My little Krells are more powerful, and I would daresay more refined, though they'd probably burn up if I let the band use them.
My DAC comes from a
manufacturer of "pro" digital, that's stumbled into a new source of customers in home audio.
My
DEQ2496 is sold for "pro" use. It even says "pro" all over it.
My
miniDSP is is neither pro nor audiophile, just an adequate bit wrangler.
My HDRadio tuner is liquidation surplus ($50) originally from a RadioShack somewhere. Neither audiophile nor pro. Its chip is the receiver side of the Ibiquity (pro) transmission gear.
There's not much to it. I use the digital output.
My
CD player (just used as a cheap digital transport) is a Tascam, which has its share of rack-mount goodies and was purchased from a "pro" store. I haven't even taken the rack-ears off of it yet. Oh look, the top of the webpage says "Tascam - Teac Professional"
---
Ooooh...