MusicBod wrote:
The more I think about it, the X10 (and particularly the X30) are quite vulnerable to competition from manufacturers producing products like the M-CR610. All that needs to happen is for a hard drive to be added with onboard software and voilà. It wouldn't take much to change the existing CD trays to enable ripping. If, say, it cost an extra £250 to add that kit to the Marantz, it would still be much cheaper than an X30 - and it would offer DAB radio in addition to FM, plus A-B speaker options for bi-amping and/or bi-wiring.
A few things to chew on me thinks

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It's food for thought there MusicBod, but the big manufacturers are definitely looking towards streaming as the future of Hi-Fi, and while it would be easy to add the
hardware required for ripping and storage etc, the difficult part is providing the firmware, metadata, artwork, manual and user interface.
Not to mention the kind of support structure that Cocktail Audio have with the forum.
The X10/X30 are interesting products which are ideal for anyone who does not want the added complexity of ripping on a PC and streaming to a networked Hi-Fi.
In this respect cocktail audio are actually lacking in competition. The closest thing to an X30 is probably a sony HAP-S1 at around £800.00, but it will not play or rip CD's, stream from network devices and it only has a 500GB internal HDD.
There is no such thing as a free lunch though and you are trading sound quality, features, functionality, speed and upgradeability against an easier to use all in one product. Which really needs to be the best it can be for the price straight out of the box. As the inherent limitations of this approach will increase over time.
While the X10 was generally well received when it was new, around three years ago. The hardware is now showing it's age and could really do with a serious upgrade.
Processors, memory and digital amplifiers have all moved on in terms of speed and quality, so better performance for around the same cost should not be a problem.
Admin has said that the X10/30 are not PC's, and I would not expect them to be one either, but not being able to listen to your music because you are doing a backup is clearly out of step with today's technology.
Unfortunately I can't see how the X10 will get a decent upgrade when the X30 at around three times the cost, only has a slightly better hardware spec.
Obviously you can't compete against your own products, so what happens now?