I wonder how many audiophiles there are these days
There’s a lot of speculation about how this is a dying hobby. I’ve been at this for 40 years, and it certainly isn’t what it used to be. In the old days there were cars and stereos as “toys” and that was about it. Now there’s a long list of competition, together with a general lack of interest in high end sound quality (Pono didn’t make it, which was no surprise).
My kids friends come over (millennials) and I often get a “wow”, and that’s about it. I keep an old vacuum tube in a drawer to hand them, for the inevitable question “what are those?”. Then I tell them about how I’d go to the drugstore with my dad and do the TV tube test as a regular activity, which usually leads to a strange look and a sudden desire to know what’s for dinner.
Anyway, there are still many high end equipment companies, probably more than ever, but it’s likely most only sell a handful of units. Serious audio stores are pretty rare, witness the road trips some of us take to just hear a set of speakers.
If if you define “audiophile” as someone that is seriously interested in this as a hobby, does serious research on components, and is willing to spend a significant sum (which is totally relative), how many of us are there? I suspect at least 10,000, but not more than 50. Total guess, I’m hoping it’s higher because it’s a great hobby and I’d hate to see it get any more rare.
Probably more important, is whether interest has stabilized. I think it has. There seem to be a lot of younger guys in these forums as well.
"Judging from what’s going on in the U.S., capitalism creates a huge downwardly mobile lower middle class, and a thriving 0.0001%. Not exactly a recipe for breeding people who seek the finer things."
That plus the fact there is no place to audition high end gear like there used to be.
High end audio is not a necessity, and as each year passes, the middle class is restricted more to "necessities". Not a good recipe for the high end.
People who are not aware of this must be living in an upper middle class environmental bubble; which is a good place to be.
I lived in the Carolina's, then moved back to Michigan in 2000. So it looks like there were at least 3 audiophiles there at one time. Beautiful place, probably move back there when I retire. In regard to the U.S. economy, I work in aerospace & we are busier than we have ever been.
I wish more people were into Jazz, but they're not. I was in Lexington MA the other night at a famous guitar store for a "meet and greet" with the Santa Cruz guitar guy Richard Hoover (I own a Santa Cruz guitar), and some music from the world class Tony McManus and his amazing side woman Julia Toaspern (fiddle and guitar...brilliant). I'd been in Lexington the week before for a dual piano concert with Vijay Iyer and Dr. Lewis Porter...astonishing show, attended by maybe 75 people...Vijay might be the best musician I've ever heard (I own and enjoy a lot of his music), and Dr. Porter ain't no slouch...but nobody I asked at the guitar thing had been to the Iyer/Porter show. A shame.
Well we retired to SC (Myrtle Beach) recently and I believe there may be more audiophiles than you think down here nowadays. It seems everyone we meet is from NY, NJ, CT, PA- retirees. Just meet a guy last month who has a Legacy/ Bryston system. He was over listening to my system and I plan to visit him next week.
Fortunately, I accumulated my equipment when there were "Brick and Mortar" high end stores, and it was expensive, but I could better afford it then; that began in 1990.
Relative wages have gone down, not up; that means out of the total population, fewer people can afford to be Audiophiles as it's defined "Wiki".
If the number of stores catering to that demographic is any indication, numbers are dwindling. I used to live in Ann Arbor; in its heyday there were 5 locations, now down to 2. Where I live now, which is smaller, there were 2 twenty years ago, that went down to 1, and now more recently 0.
Excalibur, a high end salon in Alexandria, Va, which boasted a bunch of audiophile goodies, the Infinity Reference Monster speaker system, Martin Logan, at least four rooms with various systems and great selection of audiophile CDs and LPs, closed its doors about 30 years ago. Those were the days.
I spent so much time in high end stores, that my wife swore I was seeing another women.
The stores I went to had incredible salespeople and setups. When business was slow, we would swap stuff in and out like crazy; especially when new top of the line ARC or CJ came in. Naturally I brought my best CD's; this equipment created such an audio reality that you could visualize the performers.
When you're having so much fun rapping and listing to the best music on the best equipment, it's easy to forget the time; plus the store was a considerable drive away; maybe I should have brought ice cream and flowers home.
"Honey, I just been with some dudes listening to high end equipment!"
"High end audio is not a necessity, and as each year passes, the middle class is restricted more to "necessities". Not a good recipe for the high end."
I think the logic of this is sound. And surely it is true in many cases. But I think it misses an important point: People will find a way to do what they love to do. Case in point: automobile racing. I am a member of a national racing association (though I do not race, just track days) with regional divisions. You might expect to find a paddock full of well healed gentleman drivers in Porsches and Ferraris but you would be wrong. Sure there are some. But a tour of the paddock will reveal a decidedly working class population of people who scrap together everything they can in order to race. And even at the lowest levels it is terribly expensive. No matter how low end the car it must have a roll cage, race seats and harnesses and the driver must have a helmet, full race suit with shoes and gloves plus a HANS device. And it all has to be current. That's about $3000 at the lowest end possible and that includes no car, no fees, no tires, brakes, fuel, hotels, etc. In some classes a set of tires lasts 2 races and cost $1000. They love it so they find a way to do it. And I know a lot of them....and they are not "living in an upper middle class environmental bubble".
And the hobby/sport is growing like wildfire. Right now. In this economy.
"People who are not aware of this must be living in an upper middle class environmental bubble; which is a good place to be."
I'm sure it is but I don't see the economy being at fault for the decline of hi-fi even if you believe the politically weaponized economic stats.
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