Rocking Out in the Modern Day - One Step Forward, One Step Back

I remember seeing high def TV for the first time in someone's home and I was amazed.  The picture quality was significantly better than standard TV.  In the years to follow more and more people bought TVs capable of playing a high def picture, and more and more TV stations began broadcasting in high def.  Eventually high def became the standard picture quality, and now everyone I know watches TV in high def (except for my parents who have an odd, pseudo-high def setup).  In the past 10 years other television advancements have been introduced.  I think at this point we can safely call 3D TV a bust, and despite being out for a few years, I don't know a single person who watches TV in 4K.  Do any TV stations even offer content in 4K?  Where I'm going with this is that I think it is time for TV technology gurus to stop working on display technology and start working on audio upgrades.

Out of all the ways we listen to music these days, none produce audio quality like the compact disc.  I don't really know anyone who listens to CDs anymore, which is a shame because the audio quality is amazing.  I don't think there is any question that with streaming music options, including sound that comes from our television, we sacrifice audio quality.  I'm sure this is done for various reasons - to save space, make streaming more feasible, etc.  For most people doing typical day to day listening, the quality deficit isn't noticeable.  Where it becomes painfully obvious, however, is when listening to these audio sources at loud volumes.  This is something I enjoy doing when rocking out to Palladia concerts on my DVR.  The audio hisses, and overall is empty sounding.  I don't see my wish coming true anytime soon, as I am sure  I am in the ultra minority of people who like listening to music concerts from their TV at house-shaking volumes.

I bring all of this up because the poor audio quality coming from the TV became painfully obvious after hooking up and listening to my new AV receiver.  I had to have the volume turned up nearly all of the way to get the same volume level my old receiver had at about 40% of the volume output.  I just about returned the receiver but after some tweaking I was able to improve the "problem" enough to satisfy my rock out needs.  I've also come to a conclusion about the receiver - I think it just works differently than my old receiver.  More to come in the next post.