# How Many Of You Still Have "State Of The Art" Stereo Systems?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 12, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610 "2012-04-12T21:34:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/101 "2017-01-03T15:20:36Z")

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> [@Dag\_Otto](#):
>
> I have an Adcom amp, Adcom tuner/preamp, Sony CD player, and Ohm 2XO speakers. Still sounds great after 25 years. I did hook up a Bose Bluetooth adapter to it, and it showed just how much Bluetooth sucks for music (or maybe how much the Bose adapter sucks). However, streaming 320kbps with my phone though the 3.5mm jack with an RCA adapter sounds pretty damn good.

How old is the Bluetooth adapter? Before about 2006 Bluetooth devices had very limited bandwidth available to ensure a reliable connection, so they transmitted crummy sound in mono. Post-2006 devices are all A2DP-compatible (and I’m sure things have moved on since then) and should sound at least as good as something piped through the 3.5 mm jack.

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**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/102 "2017-01-03T16:07:44Z")

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> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> How old is the Bluetooth adapter?

I bought it in July 2015.

One reason I got it was that it is powered by a 5V USB power supply, making it versatile for portable use. It doesn’t just sound worse than the 3.5 mm connection on my home system, but worse in my car too. And the source is also A2DP and aptX compatible.

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**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/103 "2017-01-03T19:30:27Z")

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I wouldn’t even know what a state-of-the-art stereo system would look like these days. I have a turntable and an amp/tuner from ~1980, a cassette deck from a few years later, and a CD player from ~1990.

I’m actually thinking of getting a new system. I think I’ve fully amortized the old one. 🙂

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