I'm sure it's just my way of justifying my reactionary attitude conerning change. I don't seem to be interested in the latest Ipod gadgets or most of the later years "improvements" like monster cables etc. So I finally realized that it's not that the products are worthless necessarily; it's just that I don't like change I hate to admit it but I'm becoming my Father's Son I realize that smaller speakers need stands to distribute "optimum" sound I still look at them and think "real speakers don't need stands" to sound good. The idea of buying a piece of stereo gear and throwing it away in a couple of years goes against the grain also. I still have most of the stuff I bought over 30 years ago. I'm not an audiophile so I must be some sort of audiocurmudgeon I guess My concession to the digital world has been a Sony CDP 111ES I bought for 15.00 and a Denon DVM 3700 I got pretty cheap also. I like the convience of the CD but a lot of them sound pretty horrid. I bought the Eagles new DVD as I loved the concert on TV. What a disappointment. The sound quality is awful to my ears. I wish there was a way to tell how well the mastering was done before buying. I guess what I'm wondering is my old gear that good or is it just my dislike of change