With Thanksgiving and Christmas (not to mention New Year's) right before CES, and shortened production schedules for the last two issues of the year, the holiday season isn't exactly the best time for us. Of course it's even worse for manufacturers and all the people who have to prepare for the big show, not simply go there and cover the biggest electronics event in the world. It's an exciting time, to be sure, when you can expect to see the latest round of innovative products and lustworthy gadgets. But trying to cram shopping, family time, regular work and then CES in about a month and a half will eventually drive you a little bananas. And I've only been doing it for about 10 years. You have to marvel at the veterans that have been attending the show for most of the last two decades.
Perhaps what gets people through it all is the anticipation of showing off and seeing something new. I look forward every year to the Alpine demo vehicle. This year they've done something really different and I'm just as curious about the details of the project as well as the enthusiasts' collective reaction to it. They have a little competition this year with Dave "Fishman" Rivera, who's building a big demo car of his own for Kenwood. A fan vote may be in order to see about a People's Choice award.
I'm also looking forward to seeing Pioneer's new amps. And there's been a lot of talk about the price drop on the AVIC-D series of navigation units. No doubt consumers will have a difficult time choosing between that and Eclipse's AVN2210p that already sells for $499. That's the other aspect of the car audio business that makes for more anticipation. Prices continue to fall, just as they do in electronics in general. An in-dash navigation product for less than half a grand? It almost doesn't seem fair to the manufacturer.
Given that, we thought it would be interesting to put together a "luxury" issue in which we feature some people's dream cars and "exotic" car audio gear. For all you bargain hunters I'm sure we'll have plenty to show you that will make up for this issue's extravagance. That's always the debate around here. You want to run stories that connect with readers, but you also want to have "aspirational" content that makes readers (as well as the editorial staff) connect with their consumer fantasies via the magazine. That's part of the reason we read various magazines. I keep a Sweetwater catalog around just so I can look at the different guitars and out-of-my-price-range recording equipment that I long to own and use. It'll take me a while to get the right studio setup, but I can plan and dream.