I am afraid there has been a huge paradigm shift. The real question is the younger generation concerned about the quality of play back. The answer is no . Many of you have said this wasn't the case 20-30 years ago either. Nothing could be further from the truth. There were always cheap smaller even portable ways of getting music into life 30 years ago. BUT when I was in college your receiver and speakers and sources were a very important status items the helped define you as much as the car you drove. It was clearly very different. The quality counted. Now what I sense is happening in this hobby is that it is going through simply a momentary fad for the most materialistic consumers who have found this as a niche to enjoy music. I fear it will lose its appeal even to the small group that enjoys it now. As far as music in general goes despite the popularity of the ipod, both my kids have one, they don't seem to care as much as we did about music. Brick and mortar stores are all claiming that they won't be able to survive and some forms of music are becoming almost extinct classical for instance. Sure there are schools famous for it but the audiences are virtually all octegenarians. There are very few people my age, mid forties, that listen and new software a real rarity even on our coveted websites. What's happening now is the last fits of life kicking away but it is only a small group of us that make high end. We really do look like we have 2 heads to most people. I wonder exactly how many people actually visit this page regularly. It seems like the same people visit the forums usually a few hundred per thread even if that's a fraction of the total who look for the auctions or to buy and sell were talking a couple of thousand in a country of over 300 million (I know not everyone has web access). I think we are actually at a high point as I said before. I hope I wrong but I am the only audiophile in my workplace of several thousand that I know of.
Future of this hobby?
I took some time off work, and I read the Jan edition of Stereophile cover to cover today. In the Letters to Editor section people were writing in about what will happen to this hobby as the target audience ages and the younger generation doesn't jump on board. I am 28, and I fear that the concern is definitely real. My friends, fiance, and people my age are in love with their Ipods. That is great that they are into listening to music in whatever manner they choose. My friends and fiance all agree that my stereo sounds good but also feel that stereos bought at discount retail stores fill the same need and have no interest in spending the extra cash.
Also, I went to a couple of Chicago Audio Society meetings to see if I could make some friends that shared my interest. I felt a little out of place though when I was the only person in the 20-30 demographic out of a population of forty people. Further, there may have been one or two people in their late 30s and probably half of the people were over 50.
The only conclusion I can reach on this subject is that lesser products are meeting the needs of people my age, and I don't forsee the younger generations waking up one day and deciding to sell the MP3 players so that they can buy high-end turntables. In 20-30 years as much of the current audiophile population ages and some move into assisted living or other arrangements where these elaborate and space consuming set-ups are no longer wanted or needed, the few remaining young people that actually care will be able to take ownership of kick-ass systems at steep discounts. I along with any kids that I have will have our cash ready in anticipation of that day.
Also, I went to a couple of Chicago Audio Society meetings to see if I could make some friends that shared my interest. I felt a little out of place though when I was the only person in the 20-30 demographic out of a population of forty people. Further, there may have been one or two people in their late 30s and probably half of the people were over 50.
The only conclusion I can reach on this subject is that lesser products are meeting the needs of people my age, and I don't forsee the younger generations waking up one day and deciding to sell the MP3 players so that they can buy high-end turntables. In 20-30 years as much of the current audiophile population ages and some move into assisted living or other arrangements where these elaborate and space consuming set-ups are no longer wanted or needed, the few remaining young people that actually care will be able to take ownership of kick-ass systems at steep discounts. I along with any kids that I have will have our cash ready in anticipation of that day.