LAMENTING THE DEMISE OF THE STEREO RECEIVER , CASSETTE DECK, AND TURNTABLE

It has been about a quarter century since the advent of the Compact Disc and and demise of the 45 and LP approximately a decade later.  A lot of baby boomers are acclimating to the CD and DVD as you essentially have no choice but it is the loss of the HiFi Receiver that bothers me the most.  What if I just want to play my STEREO and not worry about 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, and having to program my damn amp through the TV if I want to have sound at all through my B speakers (excuse me, my rears).  It is just frustrating to work with and annoying not to have my 125 Watts RMS per channel at .07 THD blasting through my wood grain 18 inch 6-ways that I don't need a subwoofer or satellite speakers to attain a similar level of sonic ecstasy.  Does that make me an old fart or just longing for the electronic days of old where amps were amps and speakers were big hefty mothers and you could waste your eardrums at level 3 on the volume setting?  I could stack my 45's or make the cassette on loop and be just as content with the resulting audio emissions.  What are a few clicks, tics, hissing or skips?  It was manual and hands on and you could see it move and lift your tone arm to the exact cut you wanted and be done with it.  OK., 'nuff said.