Arguments for or against dedicated vs combo CD/DVD

Combo makes sense to me. Less intitial cost. Less cabling costs. Less lost shelf space.

Usually the more a component does, the less effective it is at each task. Especially with a baseline price of a component that performs less tasks. CD/DVD/SACD all use different laser mechanisms in an all in one player. More parts equate to higher cost for same quality. Or for the same cost one would get inferior parts and get inferior quality.

Or as lead designer of Ayre put it when asked why Ayre does not make a CDP/DVD/SACD/DVDa combo player, (paraphrased): An Ayre CDP/DVD/SACD/DVDa player that would perform to the standards I have would be very very costly. And would be out of the price range of most of the audio market.

KF

Tok2000, combo players actually save on parts because they don't have to duplicate the redundant parts that seperate players would use. There is also savings in packaging, marketing, transporting and inventory. Combo players reduce the cost of cabling and make cable routing easier. Combo players require less electrical outlets and reduce the cost electrical filtering. Combo players take up less shelf space and therefore allow for smaller (better) racks. The use of combo players also means that line stages, video monitors and remotes don't need as many parts. While I would like to see a uniform standard, combo players encourage a free market which empowers consumers. Format incompatabilty is in some part responsible for the delay in better digital formats coming to any real fruition. Ayre's decision is based on self serving marketing decisions. Should Ayre provide seperate componenets that provided for all formats, it would probably cost the consumer more money. Ayre's decision is in effect a decision to compromise Ayre's customer ability to decide for themselves. All in all combo players should provide the consumer with a better value.