Big Changes

GoodSound! is part of the SoundStage! Network, the Internet’s largest group of online publications and resources focused on high-performance audio and video equipment and software for the home. GoodSound!’s role in the Network is to cover lower-priced, "affordable" audio equipment -- not the kind of gear that might interest the subjects of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, but the equipment that most people look at when shopping. Because this segment of the market is, by far, the largest, we feel that GoodSound! meets an important need.

And because the SoundStage! Network itself is so large, we seem to be constantly making changes to not only keep up, but improve it. It’s not unlike owning a large house -- there’s always something that needs fixing or upgrading, always something to do.

We approach our upgrades website by website. Last fall, SoundStage! got a facelift. Over the winter, Ultra Audio got a similar treatment. Now that spring is around the corner, it’s GoodSound!’s turn. The changes here will be a little different, though. Whereas SoundStage! and Ultra Audio underwent mostly cosmetic changes, GoodSound!’s overhaul goes more deeply below the surface.

First, we’ve expanded the price range of the equipment we review. In years past, we had a $1500 ceiling -- basically, all the equipment reviewed here cost less than that. While there were exceptions here and there, we mostly stuck to that limit because it fit our definition of affordable.

But times change. We looked at inflation to see what that’s done to the prices of components in the past few years, and we surveyed the marketplace to see what most people now consider the limits of the "affordable" -- basically, the maximum amount they’re willing to pay before an expenditure begins to feel "extravagant." We concluded that our $1500 limit is now too low.

GoodSound!’s new upper limit of the "affordable" range for such components as loudspeakers and integrated amplifiers is about $3000; for separate components, such as preamplifiers and power amplifiers, the new limit is about $2500. We’ve set new upper limits for other product categories that we review, but I won’t get into all that here. My point is that we’ll now be reviewing stuff that’s a bit more expensive, yet that most people will still consider "affordable." For instance, on February 15 we’ll publish a review of the Benchmark Media DAC1 Pre, which costs $1595 USD. Last year, that price would have exceeded our limit; now it fits comfortably within it.

This is a fairly significant change, but just because we’ve lifted our ceiling doesn’t mean we’ll no longer review the really inexpensive stuff. We’ll still review very-low-priced equipment -- that’s part of GoodSound!’s mandate, and besides, there’s nothing I like better than discovering a new sub-$1000 "giant killer" -- a great component that puts far more expensive stuff to shame, but at a rock-bottom price.

Another change has to do with the kinds of equipment we review -- in particular, digital sources. It’s no secret that the Compact Disc is slowly dying, and that people aren’t nearly as interested in standalone CD players as they once were. Therefore, Thom Moon’s review last month of Rotel’s RCD-1072 is one of the last CD-player reviews you’ll see here for a while. Instead, we’ll focus more on computer-based audio products, which seem to be where the market is headed. In fact, the Benchmark DAC1 Pre is such a product -- you can hook it up to your computer via its USB connector and stream digital music to it at up to 24-bit/96kHz resolution from your hard drive. And if a standalone CD player does comes along that warrants a review in GoodSound!, we’ll do it.

Likewise, we’ll change our music focus a bit -- not the kinds of music we review, but how you get it. CD sales are way, way down, with no new physical format on the horizon to replace it. SACD and DVD-Audio failed to supplant the CD -- instead, digital downloads seem to be the way of the future, and you’ll see more GoodSound! content focused there. However, unlike our approach to reviews of CD players, reviews of music CDs won’t be axed altogether. For the foreseeable future, music on CD will still constitute the bulk of the music we review. Despite waning sales, the CD is still the No.1 physical format for music, and will likely remain so for years to come.

The remaining big change is GoodSound!’s visual overhaul. We’re redesigning the site right now, applying what we’ve learned from the revampings of SoundStage! and Ultra Audio, and anticipate that the new look will be up by March. The switchover will be transparent -- one day, the old site will be there; the next day, something new. None of the old information will be lost, however. All of the GoodSound! content we’ve produced since the launch of the site in 2001 will remain in our various archives, probably forever.

Time marches on, things change -- and so does GoodSound! Big changes are happening here, now and in the near future. As we roll them out, we hope you continue to enjoy them.

. . . Doug Schneider
editor@goodsound.com