High End Audio-Gaining Higher Ground?

If you look at what is happening in the independent music scene, the trend has been towards the LP for a long time (about 20 years).

The issue has to do with how relevant high end audio is, and the conditions that exist here in the US; after being at the Munich show, I can tell you that things are very different in Europe!!

Here in the US, there is a big push for digital and has been for a long time. It is that that is killing music, not because high end digital sucks, but because low end (mp3) sucks. In essence, people don't want to listen to it as much and an iPhone with ear buds is sufficient.

But kids do recognize that there is something more which is why the LP does so well in the underground, from which most music innovation arises. It would be a mistake BTW to assume that all of it is poorly recorded.

We are active in the local music scene and I think any audio manufacturer should be to cultivate the next generation.

"High End" has everything to do with *intention*. It is not about marketing or price.

I've noticed a myopic viewpoint here. Go to the Munich High End show and see if you still feel the same way. What you will see there is families with baby carriages and about 4x as many women as you do at shows here. Overall, a lot more kids. There is actually something we are up to here in the US that is causing the mainstream of the market here to be males over the age of 45!

I'm intended to use and purchase only solid OAK furniture for my dwelling for various reasons.
A marketting price for high-end furniture is important. It also substantially more pricey vs. composit furniture, but money spent for value and built quality.
If audio or any high-end isn't about value and built quality, than it's going to dissapear with last adict living as mentioned by previous posters.

That is why I say intention. I've had a lot of time to think about this as if first came up for me almost 25 years ago. High End audio is all about the intention of the product to be high end. Its not about price- quality has to do with quality, not price. Its not about performance (as much as we like to say that it is), as many products that have no high end aspirations can outperform a number of high end products, yet when we look at them, we can tell the difference because the intention is obvious.

High End audio will go the way of the dodo when high end cars are gone. The same type of buyer operates in both markets.

Ralph (Atmasphere), what are you doing, who is going to take over once you retire?

If a buyer does not appear the company goes to its employees who are well-versed in the product. But even after retirement I expect to be busy. Watching the grass grow sounds like it could be boring...

We just mastered an LP for a local band and I don't think anyone in the band was over 25. They wanted to hear the test pressing on our system and while their recording was not particularly impressive recording-wise, they were stunned by the increase in detail and bandwidth that a high end system brought to it.

They now know (and clearly suspected prior to this listening session, or they would not have asked for it) what a good system does and why its valuable to have one. They made that very clear.