Is the idea of audiophile listening a dying concept as boomers die off?

I have a younger friend, around 45, prosperous and with refined musical tastes, whose children are now nearing independence and wants to spend an evening hearing his favorite recordings via a serious playback system. All signs suggest he grasps the deficiencies of the "smart speaker" world is ready to explore the magical world of serious two-channel listening.. Two years ago, I helped another younger friend in the same project. His wife and children constantly remark that they have never heard music sound so good. He doesn't even own a preamp; uses a mid-fi streamer/DAC straight into the amp, and recently asked for help in adding a vinyl rig. So, anecdotally, there are grounds for optimism about the future of our little "hobby" or niche obsession. 

People under 50 that can afford the pricier items have demanding jobs and families. I would count myself in that group and have 0 time to go to Audiophile group outing. I am happy if I can listen 2-3 hours a week. The luxury of time + money usually does not exist until later in life. It doesn’t mean that there are not a lot of mid age people interested or participating in the hobby.

Interesting anecdotal evidence. Something to combine with the survey data. Thanks. 

Let's put it this way: my kids (now 26) were exposed to high end audio from the time when they were born.  Interest in my setting them up with an audio system when they got their first apartment: zero.  Not enough room, and why would they want that if they can stream anything they want from phone or computer?  On the other hand, my stepdaughter, who's now 40, is still using my hand-me-down Maggie SMGa's and Rega Planar 3; for her, vinyl was (and is) trendy.

@hilde45

People under 50 that can afford the pricier items have demanding jobs and families. I would count myself in that group and have 0 time to go to Audiophile group outing. I am happy if I can listen 2-3 hours a week. The luxury of time + money usually does not exist until later in life. It doesn’t mean that there are not a lot of mid age people interested or participating in the hobby.

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.

The three best years for modern era high end audio sales in terms of units sold and revenue were 2021, 2022 and 2023. 

Being an Audiophile, relating to being interested in recorded music in conjunction with quality of playback (Equipmentphile), has been born as a term from the 1950's. Using this as guidance, then anybody bought into Edisons Phonograph 100+ Years past, with a declared passion for the Tool and Music Replays are able to be referred to as a Audiophile. 

Audio (sound) Phile (Lover / Admirer) is the basics for the origin of the word, has been corrupted by Marketing Spiel and many variations of the basic meaning over the past 70 years since it has been recognised as a regular used word. 

In the era when the term Audiophile was to manifest, Source material for recorded music was limited. Tape will have been the best medium with Vinyl Medium being the second to it.

Today it is quite different, there are multiple Source Option and many options for the Tools to be used to initiate the Replay of the recorded music.

This has expanded on the Numbers of Audiophiles actively participating.

Family Members and their friends all Listen to much more music than I do using electronic equipment as the Tools to create a replay of recorded music.

Associates through Work, also listen to much more music than I do, all using electronic equipment as tools to create the replay of music.

If a Audiophile is some body who enjoys music, especially music reproduced using electronic devices, then the general interactions I have with people daily is strongly suggesting recorded music is extremely attractive to be listened to through electronic devices, by a larger population that at any other time in history.

Where these modern electronic tools used to replay music differ to traditional electronic designs, is in their being very portable, and being readily available to be used, enabling an individual to participate in their interest with numerous opportunities.

Have a look at the success of live music events, Tickets selling out in minutes, this is the real indicator of how the easy to use Source and Electronic Devices seen so commonly in use are impacting on their users to seek out other musical experiences.

The Streaming Services are the ones that really know how many Audiophiles are on this Planet at present. My assumption is that the end figure would excess a multiple of 10K x any figure a forum member would suggest with their limited take on what being an Audiophile means.

Audio Equipment used by those who lock themselves away in a room types, are a dying breed, as in the eyes of those who function day to day with the hobby at their fingertips, locking oneself away in a room as a means of living for a hobby will be viewed a miserable experience, almost sharing the same concerns or very similar, for the Obsessive Gamers who lock themselves down into the Gaming World.

The modern Audiophile is very astute, being better off keeping their funds for having a few weekends away at Multi Day Music Festivals, enjoying numerous live performances listened to through Electronic Equipment, ( another abstract of being an audiophile).

The above mirrors the same that has happened to Photography. 

There is a estimation that during the entirety of Film Photography, more images are taken Digital in the past Two Years, than the entirety of Film Photos taken historically. How about adding the Gross of all Digital Images taken and then compare the end figure to the Gross of Film.  

Those with an interest in music and are not seeing the large numbers of Audiophiles during their daily activities, really are locked away in their rooms with the Curtains Drawn. Happy Hi Fidelity and Audiophilia.

No, because there will always be an interest on obtaining the best sound possible for recorded music. Participation in High End Audio(HEA) has always been limited due to cost. An ARC SP-11 retailed for $5k over 35 years ago, 10 years later a Forsell Statement amplifier had an asking price of $30k. These might be extreme examples but so are the current components some are whining about. HEA as always will never be a mainstream hobby but its extinction is a complete overreaction.

If you watch the show reports, it looks like the high end industry is thriving. But the pricing is stratospheric. It certainly appears to be the case that manufacturers and dealers are making a cash grab from the new money cohort. 

You can tell by crazy prices. The industry survives on shrinking population. They sell fewer and fewer items and end up raising prices to compensate.

High end industry lost its connection with customers long time ago. It decided to focus on a few rather than on new generation. It started quite some time ago and is still going on.

Stores that still exist sell $200K speakers to execs driving McLarens. They don't even have a room with gear for peasants.

The times they are a changing.