Out with the old and in with....?

It has been almost 15 years since I have let my stereo system slip away.  Over the years one component after another was put in storage, died, or went unused. 

Then came the big change to the world of audio where video and big screens were thrown into the mix. Switch all those AV sources and audio sources simply for my family became the prime driver, so the two channel, manual control disappeared and a single AV receiver took the place of the stack: amps, preamps, tuners, and processing gear all replaced by a single box, my Sony STR-DE925. 

 

It never, ever sounded great.  Sometimes it sounded good, but more often than not it sounded fair.  No matter where the speakers were placed or what the interconnect cords were, or the acoustic environment of the room, I could count on mediocre sound.

Last week, however, my Sony began to give up the ghost.  The phono preamp had been dying for a year, but now one of the channels was displaying poor and unpredictable behavior.  It was unmistakably time to get rid of the beast and return to having good sound in the house. 

How this will happen I hope to capture on this blog.