The three best years for modern era high end audio sales in terms of units sold and revenue were 2021, 2022 and 2023.
This is a relevant metric, but it could indicate that a fairly rarefied segment of the population with resources is buying the equipment, not the average person.
Most of my friends are highly educated and have reasonably good resources (they can afford good audio but they don’t spend on it), and when I ask them to listen, 99% say they never do that. They listen on earbuds or Sonos or in the car.
I’m a member of the Colorado Audio Society and have gone to several meetings where there were a large number of people there. There are virtually no members under 50 in the group and maybe none under 40. It looks like the kind of audience you’d see at a classical music concert.
I’ve not been to a headphones convention but I know that skews younger. Since those folks have college debt and high rent prices to contend with, I’m not sure that many are buying multi-thousand dollar headphones.
Have you seen this blog post?
Median age of audiophiles is within the 50-60’s cohort these days. This means that we’re past the Baby Boomer peak and well into the Gen X demographic that the audiophile companies and magazines need to be appealing to as this generation matures.