The new receiver

As far back as I can remember there were three types of equipment classifications: receivers, integrateds and separates. Receivers have basically everything inside them, preamp, amp, radio tuner, DAC, phono stage. An integrated is a receiver without a radio tuner, and separates are everything in a receiver, divided into a separate chassis for each element. With the launch of Sprout, it occurs to me it is a modern receiver, not a modern integrated. We've been saying "integrated" because Sprout contains no radio tuner; it has everything else. Fact is, Bluetooth is today's modern tuner. It took me a while to get this because I've been thinking in classic terms; terms I grew up with. A tuner brings in terrestrial radio broadcasts. But while that's still true, who cares to tune in local AM/FM today? Most AM/FM stations today suck. Very few are any good thanks to their decimation as an art form by companies like Clear Channel. The good ones that remain, like KPLU in Seattle, are in .... well ... Seattle. That's great if you live in Seattle, which I don't. But that's ok, because the modern tuner is your computer or cell phone. A tuner that can bring stations from all over the world into your home. And your cell phone gets into today's modern receiver through Bluetooth or USB. You can stream local, international or anything you want. So I am going to think of Sprout as a receiver. A receiver for the modern home.