How large (or small) is the audiophile market?

As i sit here on my deck with a pair of Sony XM5 bluetooth headphones connected by lossless ldac to a Xperia flagship/whatever phone....it is easy to conclude that high fidelity has well reached the ’economics+mobility’ package.

I could walk some young dude back into the music room downstairs and say, "hey, here’s the years of ocd level work performed and how much you need to spend for expanding the high fidelity experience that just happened inside your ear cavity... to a large room like this"....In response, he’s going to justifiably grab my phone+headphones and run away as fast as he could

(Funny thing though...he seems to always have the cash for a 1500 dollar phone and a 2000 dollar pair of sneakers inspired by some influencer)

On the same note, the sheer enormity of music catalog (spotify, amazon music, youtube music, etc) made accessible to the masses in recent times is like never before in human history. The number of music listeners with large playlists is exponentially higher than ever before. Hence, there’s no real excuse for the outdated snootyminds in audiophilia whining about their shrinking businesses... when they have no clue about market penetration.....

P.S

Here’s a very very 'audiophile' test track i use (composing by Adam skorupa)...that comes from a "game soundtrack". Game soundtracks are no longer the ping pong pac man crap sound...it’s something else entirely...

Adam Skorupa - Dwarven Stone Upon Dwarven Stone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz7NG7uVkHk

But most people under the age of 35 for the most part- I know I’m making a sweeping generalization here- are concerned more about the economics and Mobility factors then fidelity.

Plus, just look at how many more entertainment options are available to people under 30 as compared to Gen X or boomers. It’s not just a radio TV and cable, it’s everything else and that everything else is much more Interactive and offers A Narrative of sorts. Some of the music my students report listening to most oddly enough is actually game soundtracks.

The analysis is complicated by the Home Theater market.  Many non audiophiles purchase expensive systems for their home because they can financially.  They want loud movies, not listening sessions.   Without doing any research I look only to my own family.  My non audiophile brother spent a tone on money on a dedicated home theater.  At least 20 grand was spent and that is non trivial.   He was not ripped off, he had nice gear.   

Sales wise that would be viewed as an audiophile purchase, when in fact it was not.   I have quite a nice system that would probably cost 30K to replace today, yet I quit the gear chasing merry go round a good while ago.  

Parsing out the data of true audiophiles, which I would categorize as individuals who have listening sessions and understand the market as well as their own preferences in gear, is quite difficult to accomplish.  We are all guessing and using our own metrics trying to answer this question.   

There are many levels of financial capability to acquire increasing levels of gear as the top end has become insanely expensive.   A young person starting out in adulthood in their early 20s typically does not have the means to acquire top end gear, yet the few that are audiophiles have the desire to build their system as best they can.  Tracking that demographic is almost impossible.

I would suggest that population of what I deem as audiophiles is rather small as much of the really expensive gear is most likely purchased by individuals who buy six figure cars and are neither car enthusiasts or audiophiles.  I would like to be wrong as I love this hobby and great sound, but I believe we are just a very small niche that does not drive the market.

I do not follow the mid tier equipment market but I do have an interest in the “high end” gear.  The “tell” for me is whether the big money investors such as venture funds have moved into the market and are consolidating the small retailers.  There is no evidence they are. The So Cal market consist of perhaps a dozen truly high end retailers who are small and located in less expensive retail space.

I concur with your opinion.

+ 1

I would suggest that population of what I deem as audiophiles is rather small as much of the really expensive gear is most likely purchased by individuals who buy six figure cars and are neither car enthusiasts or audiophiles.  I would like to be wrong as I love this hobby and great sound, but I believe we are just a very small niche that does not drive the market.

A real audiophile  test soundtrack (no electronic spatial effects here only voices and instruments ):

If you can differentiate after purchasing this album, between the singers and see when they walk around you and in your room and see their head turning when singing and if they comes near your right or left ears singing or speaking, your system/room is good... If not, dont upgrade your gear pieces, dac, amp or speakers, learn acoustics experriment and use it before upgrading...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR33bL5aNTk&list=PLnQJF3Qi_4_CvjtOvZypmfmC4ygxSxOgm&index=46

It was my test album in my  acoustic dedicated room.

In non audiophile system/room the singers are in front of you on a plane or worst between speakers, not around you in 3-d in the room.