A defining moment is when something happens or is observed that changes your worldview. It could be as simple as noticing your car automatically goes into park if you unbuckle your seatbelt when stopped, or it could be as dramatic as discovering oversize power transformers dramatically improve sound quality.
These defining moments tend to be far and few between. So, when they happen in a positive direction, it's a real joy—a stepping stone in our forward march.
Who knew servo subwoofers and cheap woofers could easily be bested by well designed passive drivers? Chris Brunhaver did and when he demonstrated the difference to me it was a clear and defining moment—one that changed the course of my life and subsequently the lives of all those in our HiFi Family.
Who knew that making available the internal digital audio system of CD players and DACs, I2S, would change forever the proper way to connect these products together? Doug Goldberg and Bob Stadtherr did—a clear and defining moment for us that today has become the de facto standard for digital audio communications in a high-end system.
Each of these stepping stones of defining moments collect together to become what eventually is the current state of the art. It's what enables us to take for granted that which enriches our lives.
If you like history and uncovering how things work and why they are the way they are as much as I do, it pays to notice each of the defining moments as they present themselves. The only difficulty is identifying which are the passing fads and which are the true gems.
The gems are the ones we should treasure.
