There used to be a ’Statement of Ownership’ printed in the back of magazines in the November issue that gave circulation numbers for that year. There isn’t one in this year’s Stereophile or TAS so maybe that regulation has been discontinued. However, in last November’s Stereophile, the "Total Paid Print Copies + Paid Electronic Copies" monthly average for the preceding 12 months was 68,451, which is not fantastic but enough to feel reasonably good about the number of people still interested in audiophile gear.
I think another measure is the number of companies making audiophile gear. If no one’s buying the stuff, you are gone pretty quickly. I think there are more audiophile companies making more audiophile gear now than ever before. There are probably more companies making high end turntables now than there were makers of all types of high end components in the early 80s.
Every day there are a couple hundred items listed here and I assume most of them sell eventually. I know the stuff I have listed has sold.
The internet has made the buying of audiophile gear less obvious than when there were more local shops around. Remember when shopping malls were packed with stores and shoppers? Now most of them are empty but people are buying more stuff than ever.
I think another measure is the number of companies making audiophile gear. If no one’s buying the stuff, you are gone pretty quickly. I think there are more audiophile companies making more audiophile gear now than ever before. There are probably more companies making high end turntables now than there were makers of all types of high end components in the early 80s.
Every day there are a couple hundred items listed here and I assume most of them sell eventually. I know the stuff I have listed has sold.
The internet has made the buying of audiophile gear less obvious than when there were more local shops around. Remember when shopping malls were packed with stores and shoppers? Now most of them are empty but people are buying more stuff than ever.