High End is Dead?

People have been saying that for 50 years. Take a look at the major audio review sites and audio shows, make note of all the high-end manufacturers from around the world. It is clear that high-end is not dead. Look at the revival of records, reel to reel tape and I am seeing a new surge in cassette interest. All are peeking the interest of the younger crowd, planting the seeds for upgrades in the future.

My view of Millennial and Gen Z types around the internet such as Reddit and Massdrop is that there IS an interest in audiophile audio, but they are actively antagonistic towards high-end audio. So the interest in better audio is there but they have a hard stop at spending significant sums of money. It seems like a groupthink exercise in defining reality in terms that is beneficial for them. For example they will state that one DAC sounds no different than another, or if there are differences they are minor. If challenged to visit an audio dealer or a hi-fi show they will respond they don’t need to because it’s all snake-oil.

At first glance it seems like the simply don’t want to believe that better quality gear produces better audio, but that’s also not true; they do accept that better quality gear provides better audio, but that only goes as far as a few hundred dollars. So it seems they actually do believe in high-end audio, only that the high-end must include everyone on the internet’s ability to pay for it. A very self-serving community view.

1.people now just don’t care for equipment.
2.audiophile business is full of snake oil salesmen(cd and record demagnetizers)and who can forget the king of them all ,george tice and his tice clock.
3.audiophile stores are unfriendly I’ve walked into many types of hi end store(jewelry,furniture automobile)and have been treated with some type of respect , but rarely at high end store, i’ve been sneered at and even insulted.there is no industry that goes out of its was to insult existing customers and turn off potential new customers.
4.magazines, blame the reviewers they are mostly bored geeks who only want to review outrageous expensive exotic equipment.turning off 99.99% of the buying public.
5 the companies,do we really need another 10 watt 20K amplifier?? companies have completely lost touch with reality.who the hell can afford this stuff ??and most of it is very unreliable to begin with. one website says the audiophile industry is $200M a year not impressive even for a company let alone an entire industry.

Silly first post.

1. People do care about equipment. Perhaps more than the room, or even music, so puts all manufacterers immediately on the hot seat.
2. People who are successful in the audio business are working hard and have to play on the world stage because only something like 20% of revenue comes from their home country.
3. Salesman have always gotten a bad reputation for only caring about those that will make them money. They naturally weed out the time robbers but I’m sure make some mistakes. The few that embrace the web and play it well are rewarded.
4. Reviewers seem highly networked with manufacterers and are selling opinion on top of that. They have an audience too. Seems hard to build a career on this and I wonder how many live on this paycheck or is it a hobby? Again those that embrace technology seem to do well. Umpire or pimp? or a weird combination? 
5. The market will decide who has the right mix of talent and accumen to survive. I’m sure some of these guys have generational wealth and others came from more successful careers and shifted passions. They must balance their own books and figure it out.