Where are the young audiophiles?

The neighborhood hifi stores aren't going to close....they already have. You have a Best Buy Magnolia in a good demographic region and maybe some home theater focused stores. The Best Buy stuff is expensive and since it is corporate, there are no deals there.

As an example, in the 80's and early 90's there were probably 20 mid to high end audio stores in and immediately around Philadelphia. Now there are 2 in Philly and 3 or 4 outside. That's a 75% reduction. At those stores, it was possible to speak with someone who knew what they were talking about usually and get a system for what seemed like peanuts today, but if you account for inflation, aside from the ultra high end, the prices are about the same or less, and if you know what you are doing, can actually get a very nice used system for much less with the internet's help. 

Back then, the better stores sold audiophile records which supplemented their sales and kept people coming in the door. Now they're Apple stores.

@ironlung - sorry you are down on the industry, disillusioned and miserable. Most of the stores I see out there are exactly what you say you need to find; someone who knows what they are doing and gives a s**t. They are the owners of the typically higher end stores who might have an assistant or two, but the owners negotiate the prices. If those guys are what you say they are, they wouldn't be in business. Most of them have been around a LONG time, some 40+ years. They don't need the money anymore, and the ones that are gone from the business are the ones who weren't as passionate about it as their competitors. I don't know what you mean by an "entire dealer".

The multi-location stereo chains are a rarity, other than Best Buy's Magnolia, which used to be a chain. They are more a home automation and video business/installation service that happens to carry audio, which takes up a lot of their space, and probably is a money loser. I think in all of metro Phila there is one multi store chain that I have never been in - they are lower end and focus a great deal on video and installations. Nobody there knows anything about a turntable, and I'd be scared to have them install a cartridge for me.

Younger people don't have much money, and they were raised on iPhones and iPods. As they get older, they will spend more on audio, but most will not have the passion because they never really were interested growing up. There is however a growing group of hipsters that think turntables are cool. Hopefully, they can make some money and maybe will actually be interested in great sounding audio to keep the industry strong, not just the coolness factor because some demographic chasing talk show host has a turntable in the background on their set (the pompous hipster doofus wannabe Steve Colbert). I don't think anyone thinks being an audiophile is cool.

@ghasley - the market you are talking about Is something like the top .1% or smaller. Maybe a few of them care about audio, but will just ask someone to give them the best system for the room they have or have a room built for it.

Also, not to nit pick, but I doubt you have any clients worth 12 (let alone 11) figures, unless you count Elon Musk, Warren Buffett or Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates (pre divorce) as clients. 11 figures would be $10+ billion, also a very, very small number - .00001% maybe. So you should probably say 8-10 figures, which means you serve some billionaires, which is still pretty impressive. Can’t even imagine what I’d do with that responsibility.

@ghasley - Sounds like the old Bang and Olufson products would work for your clients....much more for the look than the sound, although they did have some fans that thought the sound was very good (me not among them).

Also, not all audiophiles want their systems to look like physics labs, mainly because they are not in mancaves or hidden, they are like mine, in a den, where some electronics can be seen, but it can't look weird or completely out of place. I'm lucky I am able to have my speakers 3 feet from the wall :-) and they sound excellent outside of the one perfect sweet spot seat that is ideal to listen to.

I thought US' wealthiest people were known - if there are indeed those worth >$100B that I didn't mention, I would be surprised, but I guess it is possible they can stay that far under the radar with lawyers, LLC's, and frontmen like you say. 

Of course an architect cares most about aesthetics.....no surprise there. My philosophy is whatever sounds best unless it looks ridiculous or doesn't fit.

I think that is true audio sickness, but some would say they don't care about ridiculous looks and if it doesn't fit, move it or make room or modify it! They may be the truest, sickest audiophiles - I'm not there, and am less like it than when I was in college.