I am more than impressed by the responses I see in this thread. Some excellent points have been hit on.
I would like to add some opinions to the discussion...
The way music is listened to has fundamentally changed. Music is no longer an event for the vast majority of people. In fact, music is everywhere. To the point where it is viewed it as audio wallpaper. Something that needs to be present in order to avoid that most unpleasant of things, silence. Music is so ubiquitous that we believe something is wrong if we hear no sound. It is now ingrained in us that the music will be there, that the music will come to us rather than we having to go to the music.
The whole experience has been cheapened. Listening as people do now no longer requires a commitment. Wherever a person is, be it the doctor's office, elevator, or supermarket, there will be music. You don't even have to hear it.
Listening requires a commitment. On many levels.
In terms of being an audiophile, the numbers continue to shrink. And, it will only get smaller.
The reason being the number of people who participate in the hobby is getting smaller. The emergence of high end audio produced the famed high end audio dealer. Combined with high end audio manufacturers and distributors who appease these dealers, it was a recipe for an industry's suicide.
I believe that love for music, or any hobby, is developed before one reaches adulthood in most cases. Nurturing it will produce a person who is willing to spend a substantial amount of money on their chosen hobby. The high end gears itself heavily toward classical music, and mostly away from the music of children and teens. The music of younger people is not only not featured, but is ridiculed.
Can you imagine a 15 year old walking in to a high end audio store???
As someone who has walked in those shoes, I honestly understand why there are so few audiophiles. Most of these merchants certainly do nothing to encourage the hobby in a young person. Instead, one is greeted with the suspicion that he has either walked into the wrong business or is looking for their parents.
What are the odds that same young person will be "allowed" to hear a Linkin Park CD on that cool looking audiophile rig over there? Getting past that, the dealer will now move into the mindset that either letting the 15 year old near the equipment will result in damage, that it's a waste time showing a $5000 component to someone without a career, or both. This is all on top of an derisive, demeaning, condescending, elitist attitude our beloved high end audio dealer walks around with all the time anyway.
End result? The high end audio shop has produced a very high likelihood of the hobby NEVER being looked at again by that person. He has been chased away.
Would you go back?
But what will happen is that person will still seek to quench the thirst for his love of music. Like electricity or water, people seek the path of least resistance. He will probably venture into the world of MP3, Apple iPod, Circuit City, and pro sound. And, he will be welcomed. With open arms.
This person will not come to worship Audio Research, Conrad Johnson, Linn, or Musical Fidelity. They will aspire to Bose, Cerwin Vega, Community Sound, JBL, Rockford Fosgate, etc.
Who will make out better in the long run?
Moreover, the MOST DAMAGING thing occurs; in the long run the definition of good sound does not remain actual music, but the boom and sizzle that the music lovers are fed. A 6db boost at 100 Hz is what "good bass" sounds like, not flat frequency response to 30 Hz. As we go further and further along, we have reached the point where a stereo capable of presenting a realistic portrait of a musician playing in space is met with yawns of boredom. With the feeling that this instead is closer to the music heard in an elevator as opposed to good sound.
We have evolved to the point of seriously listening to car radios, and believing the sound is good. No wonder most feel Bose to be the be all and end all.
Then, we get to money. Factor in the polluted definition of good sound and the results are final.
How much is that component? $5000? Hey, a (whatever) sounds better than that at $800, with a bona fide return policy!
Welcome to high end audio 2003.
I hope that distributors like those encountered by Ernie know which way the wind is blowing. Maybe time to rethink things, eh?
