High End Audio-Gaining Higher Ground?

One of the speakers mentioned that his son was not the least bit interested in his rig and if something was to happen to him, his son stated it all would be put up for sale on Ebay.

As a father of 3 sons ages 30, 27 and 23, I can fully relate with that line. My boys always thought my "obsession" was a frivolous waste of time and money. I'm sure that all of my gear would be sold within a month should I become incapable. Times have changed, values have changed.

As with any other complex issue, there is no one clear cut reason like poor recordings, as Response34 suggests. Surely poor music quality is one of the issues facing the younger generation, but so are shorter attention spans and lack of income. The world is much different now than it was 35 years ago. Things move much faster, and money is tighter. I was in much better financial shape when I was my children's ages than they are today. The middle class has eroded greatly over the last 30+ years. Today, my sons have their plate full just trying to get by, none of them own a home, and all are college educated and working in their fields.
Looking at how the prices of high end audio have skyrocketed in the last 10 years, this is no surprise, as the top 1% gain more and more at the expense of the rest.

Multitasking and time constraints is another big reason. Today's younger generation is not as likely to sit and listen as we did years ago. There are so many other entertainment options available today versus 30+ years ago. Not only do my sons have zero interest in expensive audio toys, but none of their friends have any interest either. They do listen to music, but they find no difference between expensive gear and an iPod for the music they listen to. Plus, they tend to multitask while they are listening too, playing video games and/or social networking while listening through their ear-pods.

Every generation is different, there is no right or wrong way to live. Maybe NOT spending $100K on a system is a GOOD thing for many of today's youths. Hell, had I foreseen the prices of systems today 40 years ago, I probably would have chosen another hobby for myself, LOL!!

I have heard from a couple of USA manufacturers that 75% of their business is from Asia. Rather ironic that most Americans buy Asian audio gear while the Asians are buying American gear.

06-22-14: Phd
I wonder what manufacturers from Asia that Americans seek.

I'm speaking for the vast majority of Americans. Sony, Marantz, Denon, Onkyo, etc., sell audio gear to the vast majority of Americans. In the high end scene there are Shindo, Allnic, Accuphase, Air Tight, and many, many others. I didn't even start to list the hundreds of Chinese manufacturers who sell lots of gear to Americans, or many of the phono cartridge manufacturers. Far too many to list.

I don't wish to start a battle between which Asian country makes which brand of gear. My original comment was simply noting the irony that while we Americans tend to buy Asian made gear, the Asian market is buying more American made gear.
Americans tend to buy more Sony, Denon, Marantz, etc., while the Asians buy more ARC, VAC, Rowland, etc.

I think it is because Asians tend to place more emphasis on music in their lives. It's a matter of cultural values, IMHO. There are many Asians at American HiFi shows. Also, many in my local Philharmonic Orchestra also happen to be Asians. I do not think that music or music reproduction is on such a high scale in the American way of life.

Asians, in general, seem to place a much greater value on music and musical reproduction than Americans do. I'm ready to get hammered on this one.