Though source is not a system component, but a software, it is included here as a key component since the number one criteria for quality listening is a quality source. If your home entertainment equipment is state of the art - but your source of music is inferior, then no point complaining..! Today the sources for audio video are many.

Cassette, spool, LP records all of which are analogue sources of music. CD, MP3, DVD, Super Audio CD etc are digital sources. Now for hifi listening, we have to straight away rule out MP3 as they are compressed and compromised sources of music. But for people who just need to listen to a song, this is acceptable. For quality audio listening, the hifidemoroom recommendation is - stick to cassettes, spools, LP records, CDs and Super Audio CDs if affordable.

LPs and spools are not common and affordable. Hence the choice for music further narrows down to CDs and cassettes. This is also due to the fact that older music was never recorded in digital format and hence you will have to stick to cassettes. Though cassettes are not the best option, due to the fact that so much of old collections would still be on cassettes, they cannot be done away with. For information on how to best listen to cassettes and why you need expensive cassette players check out on cassette decks. CDs are better in dynamic range, but a little costlier option due to copyrights for new albums. They are ever lasting in principle, though some of the CDs are also of inferior quality..but if handled carefully can last a lifetime. For video the popular source seems to be VCDs for its low cost but at low quality. In the near future it is expected that the DVDs will rule supreme, especially with the production of newer DVDs, though it is unavailable for local language movies unlike in the west where enough titles are coming in DVD format. Recently a HD DVD has also come out which is high defenition version of DVDs. But for multi channel sound track entertainment, there is no substitute at present to DVDs especially if you want to enjoy your movie on a 7.1 channel home theatre amplifier and a great piece of speaker system which will give all the fantasies of watching a horror or action movie with all those choppers moving from one end to the other with the sound traveling along..! All the above are digital sources. Analog sources are video cassettes which unlike the audio cassettes are more cumbersome to handle and also prone to fungus. It is getting phased out now and may not be there few years from now.