SuperBiasedGary

trying to Frankenstein together a rackmount system out of surplus PA equipment to recreate this effect

to be fair, none [ok maybe like 0.05%? 1 in 2k?] of the boomers knew how to operate these, especially after they turned programmable in the 00s

you forgot the third option: this, but every component costs $2,000 and is actually designed for home theater use

My favorite thing about this era was ones with a remote control, where if you change the volume on the remote, it makes the physical knob on the front also rotate. So awesome

This is glorious! One important thing about these is flashy VU meters that go bouncy in time to the music, I find!

as a hi fi professional i must point out that ES series Sony gear is very much a Gen X thing. Boomers would have had silverface Marantz separates

My grandparents had one of these and like all the tech in their house, they refused to use it, which drove me crazy as a kid 😭

Don't forget that 2.1: For a premium price your orb that spies on you is available in gorilla glass

You still can! I did!

I get the feeling it's less that there's not stuff out there and more that everyone's AV budget now goes to TV, games consoles and the fucking rent... either way, I've put together my 2.1 setup for about £600, which I paid for by selling a grand total of four shitty Sonos Ones.

Anyway my point here isn't that I'm a special smart girl who is different, it's that modern stuff is a fucking scam. Those Sonos speakers had no aux input, needed an internet connection and just cut out at random on one or both channels constantly. Smart speakers are priced for the smart not the speaker so they don't even sound that great. Sound bars are a mystery to me, I do not understand why a set of tiny drivers is a good idea and I'm certain they're sold on the fact that they at least sound better than the speakers in your TV.

Meanwhile the separates market is aimed squarely at those fat boomer wallets, but the entry level is just fine. It suits the separates market to look like it's all high end pricey shit and it suits the gadget market that my entire generation grew up with PC speakers and Bluetooth gear and don't notice that there's no bass.