Rant against the industry with hopes for discussion on positive change


As a 20 year hobbyist who has worked around the industry and made tons of contacts I really worry about the future of this hobby. 
 

For the last 30 years the industry has catered to an aging  clientele which I can tell you as a used gear guy a large percentage of my inventory comes from audiophiles who have passed away and at 38 i rarely meet people my age or near who are hobbyists. 
 

The industry is about the shadiest mainstream industry that has fought standards tooth and nail which is why amp and speaker ratings are all over the place confusing and discouraging the casual consumer. 
 

Millenials and Gen Z have spoken loudly that they won’t support shady business practices however market trends show that like audiophiles they bought a cheap Bluetooth speaker, than eventually a better and eventually a nice one. They want a option that is currently really only available from Devialet and a couple other manufactures. 
 

Also sales people use the technique that “you don’t know how to listen to music, you need to sit motionless in one spot” music reproduction needs to adapt to modern life where people are living smaller spaces with far more media options than ever before. 
 

As a guy on the border of Gen X and millennial I’ve built 4 rigs for friends over the years because I always get the response of “I can’t give up a whole wall, that’s insane” 

 

I would really like to see a company make a 12” and 15” Tannoy gold tv stand with volume control, bass, treble and loudness knobs as well as USB charging with an outlet strip on the back and a shelf for a PS5 or Xbox… that way they get big clean sound for example

 

What are y’all’s thoughts on ways the industry can still thrive and meet the new demands of consumers while getting good music to more people? Without a new influx I don’t see how the majority of brands and brick and mortars and stay on business due to a decline in clientele

128x128systembuilder

most millenials would not want the product you are descibing

the muillinial mindset is portable and cheap

If you feel you have the pulse of your generation, stop your ranting-start your own business.

EVERY industry  has a questionable  side. Welcome to reality.

High end audio---or even hi-fi on any level---has ALWAYS been a niche market. Out of, say, a hundred young people I knew when I was in my 20's (in the 1970's), only two other than myself cared enough about having a good system to actually be willing to spend the $ necessary to get one. And of the musicians I knew, none. Zero.

But listening to a complete album was a "destination" activity back then. Music was considered an art form, not mere entertainment. There are young people now who are just as pre-occupied with music as we were then (some of the most passionate make and post videos on YouTube), to whom music is a major focus of their lives. Knowing how to find out about how to assemble a quality hi-fi---or even caring to---just isn't a "thing" for most youngins. When in my 20's, the guys I found myself surrounded by in hi-fi shops were middle-aged professionals. Hi-fi is just not a passion of most young people, and never has been.

It's the current crop of middle-aged professionals who haven't gotten into hi-fi that is the problem. The ones I meet now have ceiling-mounted Bose mini-speakers, and aren't aware of even mid-fi products. They don't see the ads for receivers and loudspeakers they way their counterparts in the 70's did in Playboy and Penthouse (at least that's what I hear ;-) . As for musicians, they listen to music on their computer's speakers. THEY are hopeless ;-) .