The future…what is the landscape in 10 years?

[mhardy6647]

Me too!

I on the other hand have biases, but I am singularly and refreshingly idea-free.

 

[TonyJZX]

we'll be a part of the matrix and music will be piped into your brain directly

 

[Kevin1956]

I think stand alone stereos and home theaters will become an increasingly small portion of the marketplace. Even soundbar sales will decline as TV’s integrate everything you need to access content combined with increasingly sophisticated built in sound which will include room correction without even the need for a separate microphone.

 

[NTTY]

My predictions for 10 years:.

• CDs outpace Vinyl as the nostalgia format of choice.

Crossing fingers

 

[Multiway]

More off the shelf budget active speakers with built in, capable and easy to use DSP.
Currently room correction that in my current opinion, is pretty dreadful, will improve massively.
The old boomers who believe in analogue everything, will largely have died out

Multi Entry Horns with the above will break into mainstream hifi.
Danley Sound Labs have shown the way with the all Active, all DSP FIR HRS-1 (Hyper-Realistic).
But they are too expensive and need better aesthetics and even smaller footprint.

 

[Mart68]

Within the niche that is high fidelity rather than the broad consumer electronics market I predict:

The increasing popularity of physical formats - CD, SACD, vinyl (already happening with sales increasing each year)

The speaker market to split distinctly between small active speakers plus subs and old school big driver big cabinet passives

The retreat of expensive boutique electronics to a very small, ghettoised market (already seeing this with the rapid decline in demand for such on the used market)

The decline of tube driven electronics

The return of linear tracking tonearms

Retro looks with electronics - amp/streamers that look like 1970s receivers will become popular - think Wiim in a wood sleeved mid-century looking box that lights up like Las Vegas

The trends to be driven by the Far East and the developing markets in the rest of the world rather than Europe/USA

 

[Mean & Green]

I’m not hopeful looking forward 10 years. I’m old school where I like physical media. I like my source components, amplification and EQ to be separate units. This is becoming more niche as time moves on.

There is already a notable amount of legacy brands disappearing altogether and the ones who are still around are making products I wouldn’t buy, such as streaming amplifiers/DACs. Modern CD players are junk compared the ones from the CD heyday in terms of build and functionality.

I recently had an old NAD C350 amplifier overhauled for half the cost of a new budget amp from say Denon/Yamaha and my NAD outclasses all of the current equivalent products including NADs own lineup in terms of specs and the functionality I want. My NAD was not an expensive model when new, yet in 2026 more expensive kit is in some cases worse.

I had a Pioneer universal disc player fail recently it could play SACD, Blu-Ray, DVD and so forth, has digital and analogue outputs and its own display on the front panel and it was an entry level model when new. There is nothing on the market today in the budget sector that offers these functions. Can’t even buy a Pioneer product now how the hell did that happen? Ended up buying a used player on eBay to do what I want it to.

The only modern equipment I’d be likely to buy are speakers, power amplifiers and headphones or a DAC if I needed one. These segments are pretty decent in my opinion. CD players and integrated amps are going backwards and costing more.

Software driven kit, apps and ‘smart’ features I couldn’t give a damn about for listening to music. I have an obsolete network streamer (no longer software supported) that I use for streaming my own digital library in my main system. My computer runs through a Topping DAC for system two. Anyone running streaming apps through a one box unit today I highly doubt will still be using it in years to come as it will be made obsolete through software.

I’m still waiting for a good market sector of DSP units that has its own mic input measures the room and offers full control on the device itself that can easily be tweaked in real time on the device, rather than a computer or app needing to be involved and that can fit into a ‘tape monitor’ loop with excellent SINAD.

 

[JeffS7444]

Big-league artificial intelligence will find it's niche with organizations that can afford it, especially on Wall Street. But in the home, not so much: "Light" versions will be built into some devices, but they'll mostly be seen as appliances, not "your plastic pal who's fun to be with".

 

[tineared]

Water and electricity will be very expensive and refrigeration companies will be making bank...

 

[Mr. Swordfish]

Regarding how music is distributed to consumers:

1. My first record player had no electronics (the tonearm had a kazoo like diaphram that vibrated from the needle movements). No volume control, but there were two sets of "needles", soft and loud. It played 78 rpm records, which was most of the records I had, but it also played 16 rpm "story" records.
2. Later, I had a record player with a built in amp and a bunch of 45rpm records.
3. 45s gave way to 33rpm lps (albums) which lasted through high school and most of college. I had thousands.
4. We recorded our friends' albums on cassettes, which never sounded as good as the records.
5. Along the way, many people collected 8 tracks, a format I never persued.
6. CDs appeared when I was in college, and many of us slowly replaced our vinyl with that format.
7. Various other formats came and went without much success: the EL Cassette, DAT, Minidisc. DCC, Laserdisc, VHS HiFi (which was very successful as a video format, but despite being superior to cassette and about the same price never really caught on for music), Sony F1 digital, DMX radio over cable, etc.
8. mp3s were next, despite sounding like dogmeat at low bit rates, but the dominant distribution format for a while.
9. Today, streaming is the thing, with a significant pushback for either physical media or data files you actually own.

Six decades, dozens of distribution formats, the dominant ones only lasting a decade or so. Which is to say that the current way of distributing music (streaming) will probably be replaced with something else. What's next? No idea, but the current situation is not sustainable.

I was about to say "streaming's days are numbered" but the dinosaur AM radio stations still walk the earth, so it's obituary is premature.

 

[MouseOnMars]

Regarding how music is distributed to consumers:

1. My first record player had no electronics (the tonearm had a kazoo like diaphram that vibrated from the needle movements). No volume control, but there were two sets of "needles", soft and loud. It played 78 rpm records, which was most of the records I had, but it also played 16 rpm "story" records.
2. Later, I had a record player with a built in amp and a bunch of 45rpm records.
3. 45s gave way to 33rpm lps (albums) which lasted through high school and most of college. I had thousands.
4. We recorded our friends' albums on cassettes, which never sounded as good as the records.
5. Along the way, many people collected 8 tracks, a format I never persued.
6. CDs appeared when I was in college, and many of us slowly replaced our vinyl with that format.
7. Various other formats came and went without much success: the EL Cassette, DAT, Minidisc. DCC, Laserdisc, VHS HiFi (which was very successful as a video format, but despite being superior to cassette and about the same price never really caught on for music), Sony F1 digital, DMX radio over cable, etc.
8. mp3s were next, despite sounding like dogmeat at low bit rates, but the dominant distribution format for a while.
9. Today, streaming is the thing, with a significant pushback for either physical media or data files you actually own.

Six decades, dozens of distribution formats, the dominant ones only lasting a decade or so. Which is to say that the current way of distributing music (streaming) will probably be replaced with something else. What's next? No idea, but the current situation is not sustainable.

I was about to say "streaming's days are numbered" but the dinosaur AM radio stations still walk the earth, so it's obituary is premature.

Nice history, but it's over now. Streaming can deliver the highest levels of quality. Your search is over.

 

[john11]

Since even budget equipment like amps and dacs goes beyond human earing, there isn't much room for improvement
But my biggest worry is,
In the future, science will cure all of our problems
Just in time for me to log onto this forum, and run out of things to complain about
Just great

 

[Palladium]

We will still be using the same fundamentally unchanged electrodynamic drivers.

 

[Waxx]

I think a lot of the things mentioned here are wishfull thinking. The hifi world moves very slow, and it will keep doing that.

But what i see happening is that DSP is more and more accepted as a big improvement, idem with higher end class D amps, and that will only get stronger. But it won't wipe out class AB, A or even tube amps. Those are here forever i'm affraid, but mainly as subculture. The mainstream will move along the new tech. And that include room correction, new speaker alignments that controll the dispertion on a wide frequencyband, ...

Streaming is something else. Many use it, but many also want to own a copy of music, as on streaming services you depend on the goodwill and survival of the service, like there is mostly only one version of a song (while often there are many) and it's often not the version the listener wants. People want their music always availeble. So most use streaming as a personalised radio and buy the music they really want in a physical of digital copy. That won't change, and i suspect that will even become a stronger thing, as more and more "incidents" with streaming will happen. Physical media is not dying at all, it's growing because of that.

What i already see changing, is the power of the big record companies. Artists don't need them anymore, but for promo. And with social media this even becomes unneeded. One of the biggest rappers of the UK, Lady Leshurr, never had a record company or a managment. She did all herself trough social media and sells out concerts everywhere she goes with music and video's she largely made herself, without external help (not even a producer). And she is only one example of what many artists now do. The time that the record company did decide who can release music is gone as there are many alternatives to do it yourself.

 

[Curvature]

A new class of massless experimental speakers that won't hit the market until 15-20 years from now.

An ultrasonic array will vibrate air to create any directivity pattern from 1-20kHz. Users will be able to select arbitrary patterns for older formats like stereo, and in spatial audio formats sound sources will be encoded with specific directivity. Music will become even less channel-based and instead be discussed in terms of virtual environments.

Three-Dimensional Mid-Air Acoustic Manipulation by Ultrasonic Phased Arrays - PMC

The essence of levitation technology is the countervailing of gravity. It is known that an ultrasound standing wave is capable of suspending small particles at its sound pressure nodes. The acoustic axis of the ultrasound beam in conventional ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Timcognito]

There will be a big consolidation in streaming both audio and visual. For audio there will monthly limits on how many albums/songs per month and free services will be lacking in popular content. Prices will be much higher.

 

[mpw]

AI will dominate streaming services for the vast amount of people. Most people will have an AI assistant on their computer to help streaming whatever music they want to listen to. The old Vinyl format will live on for people that want to own their own music having the analog experience playing LP's that will be 50 yrs. or older.

 

[pablolie]

My music library will easily last me the rest of my life if AI ruins the creative processes of every human (which I doubt ).
My only prediction is that all the fiddling we do now with all sorts of corrections will disappear, it'll be a single button operation for us to turn on the device on and let it automatically calibrate itself.

 

[mpw]

My music library will easily last me the rest of my life if AI ruins the creative processes of every human (which I doubt ).
My only prediction is that all the fiddling we do now with all sorts of corrections will disappear, it'll be a single button operation for us to turn on the device on and let it automatically calibrate itself.

It is just what is happening when buying new cars, AI will eventually control the whole car. But when AI breaks down then what do we do? My musical library of Lp's will last a lifetime as well no need for AI to control every aspect of my listening experience. I am keeping my 97 BMW 318is manual until it cannot be fixed anymore along with my automatic watches !

 

[dtaylo1066]

Power is already cheap, as are DACS, and DSP is getting cheaper and on the rise, lending to EQ and room correction. DSP can also deliver certain types of sound people like: tube, etc.

Convenience for all but audiophiles is the key, and some of us love it too.

So I see:

All in one units that deliver streaming, amplification and a full suite of DSP capability.

Or:

The above built into powered speakers.

Or:

Greate powered speakers that you feed a unit such as a WiiM Ultra into.

As to speakers, with Klippel, speakers should continue to improve. They will not get cheaper, but overall they will get better. This trend can be seen in tests on ASR. Passive or DSP crossovers? I see the latter winning out.