When is the RIGHT time to upgrade my AV equipment?

Every piece of electronic equipment you have has a use by date. This can be the “technical use by date” or “dead as a doormat date”.

Most products have a technical life span of 5 to 7 years. This is the time where technology has moved on to a point of functional replacement and a physical lifespan of 9 to 12 years depending on where you live. Closer to water then you can take a few years off due to salt and humidity; in a cool clean climate add a few years. Speakers can last the longest up to and well beyond 25years; most speakers are replaced due to aesthetic deterioration rather than component failure.

Every 5 years or so we have technical explosions (we are in one now) where technology has leaped to a point that if you are buying a new 4K UHD LED you may want to consider replacing your receiver or optical player just to keep up with the visual quality.

Audio technology has had a shakeup as well, with Dolby Atmos and DTS-X championing multi channel audio systems.

So:

• Do you like to keep up with the latest technology trends?
• Do you like to keep your electronics till death do you part?

If you like to hang on to things you should check to ensure the electronics are well ventilated, that dust has not clogged the air vents. Check for moisture and excessive heat on a regular basis, every once and a while (maybe twice per year) remove your electronics from the cabinet and give it a good wipe down, the warm dark space is a great breading ground and you may be surprised at what has called the electronic housing home.

TV’s also have air vents with fans that suck air in and extract the air along with any built up dust, so if your TV is hanging on a wall, consider removing it and giving it a good vacuum – this will ensure optimum life span is achieved.

Foxtel still gets incredibly hot; so don’t put your DVD/Blu-ray player on top of your Foxtel box. Actually don’t put anything on the foxtel box – Apple TV is prone to fail if it gets too hot, but because its small it is often left on the amp or Fox box. The excessive heat will also effect cables and cause many problems with video or audio loss.

So the right time to upgrade is when you are ready, if you keep up with technology now is a great time to change some of the major components and by getting in at the start of a technology cycle you will have longer to enjoy your equipment, prices for new technology are not like the old days, so you wont be financially disadvantaged to upgrade.

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