What do the statistics say about the age of Audiophiles and the replacement rate?


I'm unable to verify this so I'd like some guidance.  I have a family member who is an authorized dealer of some really nice product lines (ARC, Magnepan, Sonus, Bryston).   

He won't confirm or deny my hunch, but at his shop I see mostly older white, affluent men. I see very few middle age men and no men in their 20s.  I don't keep all shop hours, but I do spend about 15 hrs./wk. there.  My relative won't show me his sales demographic but I can see with my own eyes.

So my question is this:  Is there an equivalent replacement stream of new blood entering the Audiophile world or not? Do you have statistical proof? 

If the universe of Audiophiles (supposedly 20,000 in the lower 48) is indeed shrinking where does that leave the manufacturers and dealers? 

yesiam_a_pirate

Showing 1 response by mswale

From my experience, it's usually older people at any of the Audio stores I go to. Just turned 50 this year, feel like I'm the young guy. This was especially so when I went to my first Audio convention. 

I think with the availability of music everywhere, a dedicated listing room is fading. Just like young kids do not watch TV anymore, they stream everything on the phone or laptop. Hi fidelity is just not important to them. My kid loves music! But it's K-pop, had a nice 2ch setup in their room. This didn't fit the "ascetic" a cheap $50 all in one unit replaced the system. It sounds like poo, but my kid loves it. When we listen to music on my system, they are not impressed with how good it sounds. 

When most people consume music streamed through a phone on cheap earbuds, these are not the people who will drop $5k on speakers. It's just not important to them. Also think this is why Spotify has yet to come out with HI-Rez, most people just don't care. 

Yes, then there is the HT scene. Everything is sound bars, and multichannel.  My HT speakers are several levels down from my 2ch speakers. I do have 11 speakers  and 2 sub in there. Yet, music doesn't sound as good. 

The takeaway is, most people consume music far differently than we did just 20 years ago. Fidelity is not as important as access. Expensive systems are lost on most young people. HT is still king, where money and retail space is taking up.