Sonos Android TV Streaming Box? Hanging Onto Vintage Gear | You Asked Ep. 54

Intro On today's episode of *You Asked*, is Sonos  actually making an Android TV set-top box?   And do we even need or want that? Why don't TVs  have faster ethernet ports? And what do you do   with consumer electronics that mean a lot to you  but are basically just gathering dust right now? Welcome back, everyone. I'm Caleb  Denison, and this is *You Asked*,   the show where I answer questions you asked in  hopes that I can help you and others with similar   tech questions. If you've got a question for me,  please email it to youasked@digitaltrends.com,   and we'll see if your question gets  picked to be answered on the show. I gotta tell you, I am just in a great  mood today. I'd like to have more of these,   actually. I don't know what it is, but I  hope you're having a wonderful Sunday as   you watch this video—or whatever day you watch  this video on. Got a slightly shorter episode   for you this week, folks. We're getting quite  a few projects over the finish line this week,   and Chris is slammed, so I promised I'd  take it easy on him with this episode.   Y'all do me a favor and say thanks to Chris  in the comments. He works hard on this show   every single week and has pretty much all  year, so show him some love, would you? Okay, first question comes from  Dave, and I love this one because   Faster Ethernet Ports on Top Tier TVs? I can address a few things at once with  this question. Anyway, Dave writes: "With ISPs now providing optional 1 Gbps or 2  Gbps modem gateways, I'm somewhat disappointed   that TV manufacturers only incorporate the ancient  10/100 ethernet adapters in their new TV sets.   I get that, say, a consistent 50 Mbps should be  sufficient for watching streamed 4K programming,   but do you feel that they—meaning Sony, Samsung,  LG, etc.—are too cost-conscious to opt for,   say, a gigabit ethernet adapter on their  top-tier TV sets? I don't know how much of   an advantage having a Cat 8 ethernet line to  an integrated gigabit adapter would present,   but I would imagine that it could be  advantageous moving forward. Your thoughts?" Okay, so you might be surprised to know that I  actually get this question pretty frequently:   Why don't TV brands get with the times and  have higher bandwidth ethernet ports? Well,   first off, most brands don't make the board that  has the inputs and outputs, including HDMI ports   and that ethernet port. That board also has  the system-on-chip that runs the processing,   and they don't make that chip either. It's called  an SoC. Anyway, perhaps the most popular maker of   that component, the SoC, is MediaTek. That's why  when the MediaTek Pentonic SoCs came out earlier,   many of us were hopeful that they would have four  HDMI 2.1 inputs on them because we knew that that   would mean TVs from brands like Sony and others  would therefore have four HDMI 2.1 inputs. It's   less talked about because the need for a gigabit  ethernet jack on a TV is pretty low. I mean,   the folks most likely to take advantage  of such a thing are folks who are trying   to stream 4K Blu-ray rips from their media  server straight to their TV. And I mean,   way to be awesome, guys, but there  just aren't that many of you out there. Now, LG and Samsung, I believe, make their own  SoCs, and they could do this if they wanted to   shift their manufacturing in that direction. But  I suspect that they're not doing it for the same   reasons that MediaTek and others aren't doing  it—there just aren't many use cases that could   take advantage of it. And frankly, I imagine  there are ramifications that go beyond just   slapping a new wireless adapter in the mix.  I'll see if I can find out more. Just remember,   while it's convenient not to have to add a box,  you can always add a streaming set-top box that   can handle higher bandwidth and deliver the video  signal via HDMI. It's not like you're out of luck   if the TV doesn't have that high bandwidth port on  it. But yeah, I get it—it sure would be nice, huh? Where Does Old But Sentimental Tech Go? Robert writes: "Loved your review video on the GoldenEar T66  and the way it got into the emotional places that   audio equipment can take you. It was excellent  and really resonant. It also led me to a related   topic. Inevitably, you end up with equipment that  you love that nevertheless loses its daily driver   status—great speakers, amps, headphones, quality  stuff that you have a history with but isn't quite   what you need for your current media and listening  habits. Do you keep any of it for down the road   when you may want to hear a particular sound again  or might have a space to put it to use? If you do,   what are the things that distinguish a keepsake  from old hardware? If you do hang on to old gear,   do you ever actually bring it back to give it  a spin, or does it just end up gathering dust?" So, first off, Robert and everyone else who left  such kind, thoughtful comments and some really   amazing personal stories in the comment section  of the GoldenEar T66 review, thank you. It means   the world to me. I mean, that review was tough but  also cathartic and special, and it was hard to put   it out there. I kind of felt like I was opening  myself up to some potentially nasty YouTube   comments. But y'all are awesome, and man, it means  so much to me, no kidding. Thank you guys, really. Now, I'm someone who would like to collect more  gear than I can really afford to keep around.   For example, I used to have a great Harman  Kardon twin-power receiver that I loved,   but I ended up giving that to a friend who  I wanted to have an awesome retro system,   and I knew they would really enjoy it for what it  was. Same story with some speakers I've owned over   the years—they meant a lot to me, but ultimately,  I wanted for them to be enjoyed rather than just   gathering dust, so I put my efforts into finding  someone who would value them as much as I did,   and that was rewarding in its own way. Now,  there have been a couple of times I got rid of   gear that I wish I hadn't. One particular time  was when I was really financially struggling,   and I sold my Dynaco ST-70 tube amp. But, well,  you can see right behind me here that I reacquired   one of those. Paid through the nose for it, but  I got one back in the collection. I also have   some other Dynaco gear here that I will never let  go of. Now, it makes for great set pieces here,   but I'm crazy in that I actually run a rotation  of gear here. I get new stuff to review,   but that stuff usually goes back to the brand  that sent it. But I keep my personal stuff around   because I like to use it from time to time—I  like to change it up. Not everyone can do that;   it just so happens that my job is  awesome and circles around this stuff. Now, I do have my eye on a couple of other vintage  pieces that I really want to have. I dream of   having some Klipsch Cornwalls or La Scalas just  because they're monumental, and nothing quite   sounds like them. But those are going to have  to be in a dedicated listening den or something,   so I'll probably wait on that. I'm also lusting  after a couple of vintage Marantz, Sansui, and   Pioneer pieces from the late '60s and '70s, so one  of these days, Mirror Vintage Audio or Resolution   AV in Brooklyn is going to get some of my money.  Check those guys out on Instagram. I'll link   to their pages down in the description—they've  always just got the most amazing stuff to look at. But yeah, I gotta tell you, I think storage units  are the biggest waste of money on the planet,   and I think that way too much real estate is  going into storage units. Think about it—with   the money you spend on a storage unit in two  or three years, you could probably afford to   replace most of what's in the storage unit if you  wanted to. So yeah, I'm not into storing things   that gather dust unless they are heirlooms  that I will never let go of. Otherwise,   I want others to enjoy what I got to enjoy,  and maybe those pieces will bring a special   meaning to them before they hand them off to  the next person. And may the cycle continue. Thoughts on a New Android TV Box? J. Ash writes (and sorry if I butchered  the pronunciation of your name): "How useful do you think an Android TV set-top  box/SL dongle is in 2024? With the rumor of Sonos   potentially releasing an Android TV box,  what features would you like to see in a   high-end Android box? I personally would like  to have a competitor to the Nvidia Shield Pro,   which is a fan favorite amongst enthusiasts,  albeit I would like something that supports   more modern codecs like AV1 and YouTube HDR, as  well as something that runs a bit more smoothly.   The amount of video and audio support that the  Shield TV Pro has, such as supporting playback   of a wide range of Dolby Vision profiles, is why  enthusiasts still tend to favor it five years on." Okay, first off, I have to say, and  this is a little bit embarrassing—I   was unaware that the rumor that Sonos  was making a set-top box was out there.   I actually had to go and research  that. But when I read your question,   I just wrote down my thoughts, and here  they are—here are my initial impressions. First off, the idea of a rumor around a Sonos  Android TV set-top box is so laughable right   now. Sonos has plenty on its hands right now just  getting its core business back together. Also,   I don't see any reason why Sonos would really  want to get into that kind of hardware. I mean,   it sounds like they're gonna but it just seems  to go against everything Sonos has always been   about—less hardware, more app. But with all  that said, I will say that as long as there   are enthusiasts out there with hyper-specific  needs for certain codec support, super high-end   audio codecs, and video codecs—hell, we just  talked about being able to max out what you   can get out of a media server, right?—as long  as enthusiasts exist and are ready to spend   their dollars on something that feeds their  hobby, well, there's enough need for someone   to make that box or dongle. I don't think it's  going to be big business, but it is a business,   and I think Nvidia is in the best position to  make a new box that folks want to buy. Honestly,   I think Apple could do it too, but what we know  about Apple's support for high-res lossless   audio and video is that they invest just where it  serves their interests at a large scale. Honestly,   I think Nvidia is so powerful and so rich, they  probably wouldn't even care if they lost a little   bit of money on a niche hobbyist box. I really do  wish Nvidia would make an awesome update to the   Shield Pro—it kind of feels like it's about  time. I wish you would, Nvidia—you hear me? Thanks so much for watching, everyone!  Don't forget to email your questions   to youasked@digitaltrends.com. Like and  subscribe for more. I'll see you on the   next one, and until then, here are two  other videos I think you might like. Cat 8 ethernet line.