95%?? Where did you get that percentage? Inflated. When I was 16, I saved and with my fathers help got a nice beginner stereo. His Air Force career started as a radar engineer and he loved electronics. That helped. I had much more money in my first system than LP’s. The younger generation is more mobile. Hard to be footloose and fancy free with high end equipment. However what they lack in equipment they make up for in owning music. Many “senior” audiophiles care for their equipment over content. My daughter, is a lighting tech and owns music from well over 400 artists, but she is content with a convenient Sonos system. Although not ‘high fidelity’, it is in constant use. Both for listening and background. For the price the Sonos sound is very good. My daughter will jump from Sibelius to Tom Waits to Miles Davis, and then will move to Garage Band to mix her own stuff. Perpetual change at work. If the definition of an audiophile is based on the equipment one owns, she is not an audiophile. However if the definition is based on a passion for music, she definitely is an audiophile!
Where are the young audiophiles?
I find it alarming that 95% of all audiophiles are seniors.According to a consultant at my local HI-FI store,young people don't seem interested in high-end equipment.They listen to music on their phone.Sooner or later, all the great neighborhood HI-FI stores will not be able to remain open. Kind of sad,don't you think?