First things first. Enough with the political rants. If you want to talk politics, go to another forum!
The reason the audio market is down is the same reason the music business is down, i.e. saturation. Are there any boomers left that haven't assembled a respectable music system? Sure, there are some and a few millenials that care about audio, but the pie keeps getting smaller. Life moves too fast these days for people to sit and enjoy listening to music. There are too many distractions and they all cost money. People have to make choices about where to spend their money and unfortunately stereo equipment doesn't rank as high on the priority list as it once did. Also, the market for personal listening, i.e. headphones, ipods, has improved and become more affordable-and they're portable (think multi-tasking). Add to that, the prices for truly high-end equipment has hit the stratosphere. So, considering all of the above, are we really surprised?
The reason the audio market is down is the same reason the music business is down, i.e. saturation. Are there any boomers left that haven't assembled a respectable music system? Sure, there are some and a few millenials that care about audio, but the pie keeps getting smaller. Life moves too fast these days for people to sit and enjoy listening to music. There are too many distractions and they all cost money. People have to make choices about where to spend their money and unfortunately stereo equipment doesn't rank as high on the priority list as it once did. Also, the market for personal listening, i.e. headphones, ipods, has improved and become more affordable-and they're portable (think multi-tasking). Add to that, the prices for truly high-end equipment has hit the stratosphere. So, considering all of the above, are we really surprised?