Dnj,

Right on my friend. You have decoded the secret recipe of the Yamaha Devil! Let me elaborate. Yamaha never gives the customer 100%. They make the next model just enticing enough to make you buy and priced just a fraction lower than the competing brand. But they never give you all you want to keep you happy for several years.

Consider their home audio product line. First, I bought the Yamaha DSP-A2070 multichannel preamp surround sound processor. It was a spectacular design with some ground breaking surround effects. The only problem was that it did not have a single digital input. Then they came up with the DSP-A1 with all the optical and coaxial digital inputs. Again, a fantastic product. I bought it. But, it lacked the component video switching inputs. They added this feature on their current flagship – the RX-Z9.

I am thinking of getting this, but I am hesitant. I have a feeling they will come up with a newer model that has the HDMI inputs that I really need.

Isn’t this stupid? Now wouldn’t it be a better design to make it modular? You need extra digital inputs? Fine, swap out a card. You need component video inputs, replace another card. You need HDMI audio/video connectors – just exchange another card. Why on earth do we have to throw away all our investment and start from scratch?

Tapas