By Sean Murphy

The consumer electronics (CE) industry has certainly not been spared from the aftershocks of our recent recession. It remains a credit to the industry’s versatility and importance that compared with many other sectors (the housing and automotive markets leap to mind); the CE industry has weathered the storm while doing more than a little to bolster the overall economy.

As the dust begins to settle on all this uncertainty, we are obliged to assess the ways in which technology helps to bring convenience, enjoyment and productivity to our lives. We can—and should—linger long on the myriad advantages and benefits CE has brought us over this past decade. E-mail and e-books alone have already saved entire forests, not to mention being environmentally-friendly upgrades over costly and inconvenient manufacturing and transportation processes. Remember when portable music meant a portable cassette or CD player that ran on short-lasting and expensive batteries? Now we have tiny, rechargeable devices where we can stores thousands of songs that are available wherever we roam. There are literally dozens of other examples, and not many of us would savor reverting back to the way it used to be.

Of course, almost every technological advancement—no matter how remarkable—will invariably meet with resistance and, in some cases, a slightly misguided disenchantment. Enter Steven Wilson, the mastermind behind the progressive rock band Porcupine Tree and proponent of “Great Audio”who has long been an advocate of authentic sound. He has gained notoriety for lambasting the inferior quality of compressed audio files, and finding creative ways to destroy iPods as a form of protest.

In a recent piece for Electronic Musician titled “In The Mix: Compression Blues”, Wilson reiterates his withering disdain for cheap (see: free) files that are so easily obtained online. To be certain, Wilson is an aficionado of sound and his aesthetic credentials are unassailable. Indeed, his work on behalf of music the way it should be heard is useful and even more than a little noble. He makes a compelling case that his cause is not merely a matter of optimal sound so much as a deterioration of the relationship we have with art—and artists. In his opinion, back in better days, we had no choice but to cough up money for a new album (or, for the subsequent generation(s), compact disc) and experience it. It was an investment, in other words, not only involving money, but time. And being obliged to familiarize oneself with the work, Wilson argues, involved a seriousness and awareness that seems to be missing today.

Fair enough. I do worry, however, that Wilson runs the risk of being seen as a bit out-of-touch (at best) and a crank (at worst). To paraphrase Shakespeare, “the gentleman doth protest too much”. His impassioned diatribes, however legitimate and obviously genuine, make him seem more than a little like a curmudgeon who can’t—or won’t—accept the inexorable forward progress that time and technology impels. For better, or worse, this is reality, and it is our job—as artists, consumers and critics alike—to recognize trends and turning points and “roll with the changes” (to paraphrase R.E.O. Speedwagon).

Put another way, the question I am more interested in grappling with is how (or can) we balance the extremes so that good music, properly recorded and distributed, can garner a more fair allotment of our love and attention. This is not a trivial issue with the current ubiquity of digital content, much of it free via pirated or shared file exchanges. Put yet another way: is there room in our scared new world for a more old-school equanimity?

To be certain, the bigger picture is not only a matter of sound quality, but the state of home audio in general. Putting it mildly, the prospects for this category have appeared more than a little ominous in recent years. The good news—and potential silver lining that Wilson might be relieved to ascertain—is that so far in 2010, the home audio sector is defying all expectations and is poised for some growth.

The long back story can be succinctly summarized by acknowledging that the battle for shelf space and wallet share was determined this past decade as soon as consumers committed to video, rather than audio upgrades. Flat panel displays, along with digital audio, comprised a one-two punch that knocked the wind out of home audio. Given the choice of upgrading their (increasingly irrelevant) CD players or investing in a high definition flat panel, the vast majority of American consumers chose with their eyes over their ears. In the meantime, the ease and affordability of digital files played on an MP3 player or a PC became the new normal. For the better part of a century, home audio was at the vanguard for all manner of music enjoyment; now it was in danger of becoming obsolete.

Or perhaps it wasn’t. We have seen a minor resurgence of LP sales (and record players!) and most importantly, high-end receivers have begun to incorporate MP3-player capability. As it happens, the digital music revolution may ultimately be seen as an ironic and unexpected gateway to a home audio revival. CEA’s recent Industry Forecast anticipates home audio revenues of $915 million by the end of 2010, a 4 percent year-over-year improvement and a refreshing increase from the $863 million we forecasted in January. Home receivers with MP3 player docks look to garner approximately $10 million by year’s end, a 93 percent uptick from 2009.

Back to the future: will anyone buy CD players or speakers anymore? Even if those types of upgrades are unlikely for the foreseeable future, receiver sales should make steady progress and even yesterday’s home speakers will channel better sound quality than most docking stations. The other important consideration is that of saturation: now that almost everyone has upgraded their video, it is very probable that people will begin to refocus on their audio equipment. Certainly with the advent of 3DTV technology it makes sense to conjecture that dramatically improved visual capabilities will compel more sophisticated audio accompaniment.

Bottom line: it appears that the “worst” has come and gone and the prospects for home audio will only improve going forward. The balance may never be restored (certainly not to Steven Wilson and audiophiles’satisfaction) but it stands to reason that more music fans will be faced with the shock of recognition remembering how good things used to sound in the bad old days. Old school has its charms, but as we see time and again, technology compels convenient and attractive alternatives to give consumers more choices and harmonize the way things used to be with the way they will be tomorrow.