NoRomance - I got rid of my analog stuff years ago. I had the hanss t60/vpi 3D arm/soundstring cartridge/mcintosh c49 and the Otari mx5050. When my digital setup sounded better, I sold all of this plus 500 vinyl albums.
If your digital doesn’t sound as good as analog, then upgrade your digital equipment.
«40% Of Audiophiles Are Dying And No One Is Doing Anything About It!»
Interesting video of Jay's audio lab reflections about the audiophile world:
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@rbstehno With respect, I’ve no interest in digital that my Sony DVD player and ad-blocked YouTube can’t handle. My analog set up is magic. |
When stereo was first released, the naysayers claimed people would not spend nearly double what a mono system cost, just for better sound. Now many audiophiles are locked into 2-channel sound when the rest of the affluent world has multi-channel home theatre. Almost all new homes in Australia have at least one home theatre room. It is much more cost effective to merge your high-end audio into a home theatre set-up than to have two systems. The really successful hifi dealers near me make most of their money from selling and installing high-end home theatre systems, mainly to younger folk. I am not suggesting bringing the quality of your 2-channel system down to home theatre 'norms', but getting audiophile quality front left and front right speakers and two channel amplification integrated into home theatre - preferably with no centre channel! Works for me |
My kids (22 and 24) both have systems that I put together for them, and they both use them regularly. My son spins vinyl more often than my daughter, but every time I visit either they have music playing pretty much the whole time. Neither one is into sports (viewing) of any kind. My daughter plays piano and my son plays the guitar and bass. None of their friends have any kind of audio gear to speak of, other than apple earbuds, with one exception. I remember coming home from work about ten years ago and my son was holding court with three of his friends, listening to Death Grips on my system. They were playing at a volume level about 60-65db. I walked over to the preamp and turned it up to room-shaking levels. The grins on their faces made me so happy I still get choked up about it. Two weeks later one of the friends was at the house and let me know he bought a pair of speakers at a garage sale (A pair of big old JBL something or others) and was using his dad's old receiver to power them. He was saving up at the time to get a turntable and we talked for a while about how to acquire records without spending all of his hard earned haying money (we live in farm country). But oy vey the constant D v A argument. I've said it before, black licorice is the best candy, and ketchup on hotdogs is delicious. If you like something, just enjoy it, there's no reason to try to convince someone else that your favorite HAS TO BE their favorite, or even something they like, just as there's no reason to denigrate someone else's preference. |
When I say Rolls Royce, Rolex, Jaguar, Bose most if not all people will recognize these brands. If I say Patek Philippe, Cirrus, Spectral not many will know these brands. The point is advertising. Let’s be male centric for a moment. Has anyone ever seen an advertisement for Krell, Bryston, Kef, VPI, Transparent, MBL, Focal, insert your favorite manufacturer in Sports Illustrated, GQ, Esquire, Muscle & Fitness, insert your favorite men’s magazine. Let’s move into generic, away from men’s magazines: has anyone ever seen an advertisement for any high end audio gear in: 1. People: 93.9 million 2. Allrecipes: 62 million 3. AARP The Magazine: 55.4 million 4. Sports Illustrated: 43.4 million 5. Good Housekeeping: 40.4 million These magazines are 5 of the top sellers. The numbers following the magazine are print and digital readerships. Until the general public is made aware of our unique and niche hobby, the chances are we will continue to decline. Bose, a household name advertised in many places. I’ve seen their ads in airline magazines aboard US carriers for Bose, but never for Grado. Nor, never have I seen an advertisement for Magico, Wilson Audio, Air Tight, Weiss, Canton etc. in any magazine other than audio magazines. To raise interest in this or any hobby, the general public needs to be made aware of its existence. When something in my house needs service that I am unable to do, the person that comes over is blown away by my systems. Common comments are “I’ve never heard music so clear” and my favorite, “I didn’t know there was equipment like this”. What are your thoughts? |
@smodking1 +1 Bose is a marketing firm that makes electronics, and they have done a stellar job of making themselves a household name. They also make a competent, while mid-fi product (I have one of their bluetooth speakers in my golf bag and it has worked flawlessly for over five years, unlike my iron shots). I remember seeing a Sonos superbowl commercial years ago and I turned to my wife and said "these guys are going to be huge". Never saw a commercial for an audio manufacturer before nor since, but Sonos is not only a household name now, it has become genericized, like Kleenex. |
Well, I agree that the stereotypical act of sitting still and listening to music while doing nothing else, and not even talking much without being perceived as rude, that can be boring for most folks. It’s not boring for me as long as the music is good or the gear is blowing my mind. But I agree with Jay in the video about the lack of visual stimulation. I have tried to overcome that - many times at my place we watch high quality concert videos on the big screen, DJing through tracks just like an audio session. I run the audio through my Oppo BDP-105 so the sound is quite good. I also mix in a few comedy bits and such. I also have a lot of bouncing meters, audio sensitive lighting, album cover displays, artist photos, etc., being beamed into the listening area. Some find it distracting but it does scratch the visual itch. Also use a bit of projection at times. In addition to videos, I can switch to 5.1 format and I have about 600 multichannel (quad to DTS or DVDA/SACD/BD) music titles and that adds some spice. People dig the Steven Wilson remixes of the prog stuff. I always insist that a guest choose a substantial portion of the music. We always have it now that there are streaming services. Them hearing their music on my system is what really shows them the difference. We also talk about the music a bit while listening. Yeah, I know. But this is more of an experience people can relate to. If you want other people to be interested, you have to prepare something for them, not just expect them to step into your little niche. |
@smodking1 - Yesterday, there was a News story that announced " Lou Malnati's will be closing their four locations in Indianapolis.". Lou Malnati's is a famous pizza restaurant that started in Chicago. I've been living in Indy for over eight years and had no idea Lou Malnati's is here. Had I known they were here, would surely have gone. To your point, it pays to advertise. |
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Lots of valid points, here. I guess it depends which generation you’re assessing. The millenials I know are most definitely not more introverted! Quite the opposite- they prefer to do most things in groups. It’s simplistic to to expect people to "just turn off the distraction" when they are getting a dopamine spike from it. And if you’ve grown up with glowing screens since birth, you don’t know anything else. You’ve been trained to wholly depend upon external stimulation. I grew up with a stay-at-home mom, as did most of the kids I knew. We spent much of our time playing outside. Today, most parents work and neighborhoods are empty because kids are at day care or after school clubs, engaged in organized activities. When do kids just spontaneously play and engage/develop their imaginations? When I was a kid I was very focused on the natural world around me and derived a sense of peace and safety from it. I was repeatefly drawn to focus on its beauty and harmonizing effect. How many kids are given the opportunity to develop a capacity for being still and enjoying it? Instead, it’s constant stimulation-- constantly being directed into structured "doing". Enjoyment of the arts requires a willingness to slow down, step away from the mental whirlwind and allow one’s self to be acted upon by whichever qualities are associated with the art form in question. Of course, if one has parents who value the arts and nurture this this capacity, one is very fortunate. I could’ve simply said it appears that kids today are not developing the capacities necessary for sitting down and focusing for an extended period on any art form. Go back further into our history and you will find that playing music in the home was a prominent form of recreation for families. It's a shame this has been abandoned.
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In my younger days I felt the need to have others share in my audiophile enthusiasm and/or share in their enthusiasm, much more social undertaking in those days. Over all those years only a single short lived conversion, and this individual no longer even bothers to have his system setup, all sitting in storage. Generally, the non audiophile comments as to how clear everything sounds, end of story. Sharing with other enthusiasts was mainly for learning experience, I purposely sought out those more knowledgeable and experienced than I.
On to today, I savor my time alone with a system that provides the sound quality I always dreamed of, no need for divided attention or diversion. Illusion of performers in room such that virtually no need to manufacturer the illusion. Having people over or going to concerts has become a detriment in that I get far too easily distracted by their mere presence. Wonderful music performed by talented humans played over a high performance system in one's home is an end game activity, this one of those peak experiences, very unique and irreplaceable for me. Proselytizing to the unwashed is work for the missionaries, heaven not on line for the disbelievers here. |
Here is my comment to Jay...
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My theory is that guys like gear. Period. Maybe in this country “Audiophiles” are shrinking but not in Japan, Europe and other spots on mother earth. I got the bug early on. My Dad had (fifty plus years back) big Tanny's, Mac 275/Mac Pre, a tuner and a nice TT. When he moved out my Mom gave it away but not to me. I have been trying to get "back there" ever since. Point is besides limited TV most in this age band had music/hifi so naturally many here are aging out audiophiles. Who would have dreamed of an iPhone? I plan to go out with the last notes of "Blue Rondo à la Turk" by Dave Brubeck Quartet At Carnegie Hall. |
@smodking1 - My thoughts are that manufacturers of products that appeal to a tiny niche, which is what audiophile gear is in the grand scheme of things, would be wasting incredible amounts of money advertising in high-profile, general purpose magazines like People or Sports Illustrated, and ads in those publications dwarf the price of ads in niche high-fi publications. |
(...pardon, spouse is blasting KCRW.....asked to drill for this...) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQG5zN8QOAs If we must go...which is pretty much the name of the game.... Go Out Loud or don't go at all. Good luck with the latter... ;)
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Of all the people I know, work family and friends I'm the only one into hifi and collecting physical media. I have a few theories why more youths haven't taken on this Hobbie. 1) it's wildly overpriced 2) whenever people talk about quality recordings its always some out dated music pre 80s (which I find many modern albums today have excellent pressing/recordings) 3) the majority of people actively partaking in hifi are older men 4) understanding a main point of hifi is to get as close to real music as possible yet most youth of today do not play and instrument so they can't appreciate the chase of accurately reproducing music 5) streamers are not engaging, only interests I see from younger generations is in turntables so as the market pushes more streamers and even solid state equipment we risk losing them to their phones and a single Bluetooth speaker. Anyways that's what I see happening. Unless the hobby turns its attention to invite the youth this will remain a very niche group and many companies will go under from lack of sales in tbe near future. |
Time, technology and trend has undoubtedly played it's part, but to a large extent, we audiophiles and the outrageously expensive audiophile market place has played a big part in the demise of audiophilia, I have an adult son and grandson and a teenage granddaughter, who will have 0 interest in, nor see the sense in, my thousands of $$ worth of, wall too wall, audio gear when I am gone. Jim
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@mahgister ’my system cost peanuts’ My system cost almonds and cashews. l believe in your philosophy and it’s the way to go…… l have in my 50 years with this hobby mainly bought second hand gear. In the early years I was lucky to have been right behind other older Hi-Fi addicts who were constantly upgrading. Shure V15 mk3, SME 3009 improved arm, Garrard 401 record deck, Tandberg TCD330 cassette deck, Revox series 7 reel to reel, Cambridge Audio (Oppo) 752BD Universal Blu-ray/SACD player, Cambridge Audio P100 (1970s era) integrated amp, Rola Celestion Ditton 25 speakers, and these are just one example from each major component. l have only drawn the line at cartridges and have nearly always bought new except for the Goldring G900IGC MM. Goldring ceased production of this cart in the 80s and l have yet to appreciate a better sounding MM cart. I managed to buy 2 original IGC Van Den Hul Gyger 1 profile styli to keep the cartridge going on my second deck. So l totally believe in your logic of buying for ‘peanuts’……second hand can be the new ‘Go West young man’…..it’s the new affordable frontier. |
A lot of what the artist is trying to convey comes through in his/her music video. Most of it is on youtube. Watching music videos on youtube with a big rig is quite rewarding, one of my rigs has a htpc and a screen in the room for the same purpose. The audio is compressed or what not on youtube, but, worthwhile anyways. My processor salvages it to some extent.
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This seems quite similar subject matter to another post. I’ve copied this from there: Well, since most of this community stays in its silo, it is no wonder that you A) think highly of yourself and that therefore B) fret about your replacement value. I have listening sessions once a week, and more than half of my guests are in their late 20s to early 30s. The experience is a revelation for them, and many come back, some regularly. yes, one wants me to will my system and collection to him but I think that my niece is anxiously waiting for me to keel over. She is at the head of the line. She’s early 20s. theaudioatticvinylsundays.com |
@bolong - I've read them all, and 'Rant' is one of my very favorite books from Chuck. It was actually the first one I read... |
I have two houses full of audio gear. What happens to it, I don't care. I've been giving some to my nephew as his Dad exposed him to audio. He has a pretty high end system so he's not interested in my Mid-Fi stuff. If it ends up going to the thrift store, that's OK with me, I've had a lifetime of enjoying what I have. |
My hunch is that a lot of young Americans don’t have the discretionary income that their parents or grandparents had. Education costs are high, housing costs are high, and once they get married and have children there are too many other things competing for their limited funds to pursue expensive audio equipment. They watch a lot of movies and play video games, and a sound bar with perhaps a linked subwoofer does them fine, Those that seek more often go the route of AV receivers instead of separates or integrates amps. They like the convenience of Bluetooth linking to their phone. If they want to hear loud music, they see if someone will watch their kids and they go to a club. |
