Today's New York Times

Very true Garcia. Good stuff as usual.

Just face the fact they we are dying breed and this whole nightmare will be done in 10-15 years. I use to care about this hobby living on forever. Now I really hope it dies.

I remember what got me interested in hifi back in the early seventies, (visiting stores like Music Craft in Chicago) was being able to spend countless hours in them listening and talking to salesman that had opinions and knowledge to share about audio products. For me it became an activity something I actually did at least once a week. They all wanted me to buy something but they also allowed the freedom to move around, sit and listen, ask questions repeatedly never making me feel as though I wasn't worthy of their time. At my current 59 years of age it is awesome to me that I still have this huge desire to participate in this hobby and I am certain that having those hobby sessions in those stores were probably the most influential part of this. If I had the financial capability I think I would open a place where this would replicate what these stores in the 70's gave me even though I think it would take some patience and time to be successful.

I'm glad that my thread has initiated some really good discussion.
Erniek ..... your experiences (and age) mimic my beginnings in our hobby exactly. I spent countless hours "just hanging out" in local hi-fi shops listening to music and picking the brains of the shops' owners and sales staff. I was always welcomed with open arms and found that the folks who worked in the shops were eager to teach me and allow me to spend as much time as I wanted simply listening to music with a big fat grin on my face. After four or five years of "I'm just looking and listening," I finally bought my first "high end" system ..... Mission 717 speakers with a B&O Beogram 3404 table and a Yamaha receiver. Boy oh boy, that was a great system, and although I've been through a lot of gear over the years and am now very happy with what I have, there was something very special about my first kit. And I owe it all to all the great hi-fi shop folks who allowed me into their shops knowing I wasn't ready to buy anything and even encouraged me to just hang out and listen.

I think the end of days prognostications are pretty premature. In all reality there are a lot of subcultures that are getting 20 & 30 somethings into higher quality music... For example, the "pitchfork(.com) hipster crowd" is pretty into turntable based audio, and a number of decent quality manufactures (e.g., Rega, Pro-ject, Music Hall) know how to get money out of those folks. Similarly, the hip-hop crowd cares a lot and Beats audio has been able to sell a ton of "high-end" headphones to this group. Of course the audiogon crowd will scoff that this isn't truly high end, but in the end, this is how the interest in quality audio starts. Those products are the gateway into high end, and most young people simply don't have the cash to spend yet to sample anything else. At some point these folks will have money and grey hair and will be spending $500 on a cable that may not produce anything more than a placebo effect, just like everyone on here now.