Why Don't More People Love Audio?

Hey everybody,
In my opinion (and experience) our hobby is rather like a religion - tubes vs. chips, analog vs. digital, catholics vs. protestants. I believe whichever church you belong to - you were at some point inducted into it by some individual more enthusiastic about it than you. Whatever convinced you initially (penis envy, cathardic listening sessions/demonstrations, etc.) is/are the same thing(s) that will convince others. I suppose the reason why more people (IMHO) don't love audio is that we probably don't take it seriously enough to: dawn our short-sleeved white button-down shirts, black slacks and tyes, hop on our bicycles and ride around town door-to-door and shove it down peoples' throats. Sorry "Latter-Day Saints"...I'm just picking on you for the mental picture. I just think it's funny reading all the extremely furvent comments. The "tone" of quite a few of the posts seems to conjure images of audiophiles sinking on the Titanic, of the last few drops of water evaporating from the surface of the Earth as our Sun goes supernova. RELAX PEOPLE!!! Human nature pretty well dictates that there will ALWAYS be people not satisfied with the status quo of sound, video, cars, ashtrays, whatever - and as a result there will ALWAYS be someone who likes it just a little more than someone else or thinks that they have the "ultimate answer" or who just wants to make a buck. And on the 8th day God went down to the Earth because nobody in Heaven was aware of the latest advances in Teflon-coated speaker cables nor what effect they will have on His stereo" oh, and, Thou shalt not add, nor subtract from The Absolute Sound." ;)

A.J.,
I hope I didn't offend you. My point was just that after reading about the first 20 or so responses (randomly throughout this thread) it seemed to me that people were less concerned about "why more people don't love audio" and more worried about "how soon will my beloved hi-fi hobby come to it's bitter end."

I agree with Kentb...and must ask if audiophiles are doing our part to educate our friends, or are we just turning up our noses to their systems? I also agree with Michael Fremer (in his PS AUDIO "Coal to Coltrane" a brief history of power - dvd interview) when he said (to paraphrase him) that his 2nd favorite part of listening to music was bringing "non-audio friends" down to listen to music on his rig. His friends had questions/comments like "Why is it I've never heard about this (hi-fi stuff) before?"...and... "The music doesn't even sound like it's coming from the speakers!"...Has everyone seen this dvd?...it's FREE! GO GET IT!!! We must do our part to make people aware of our passion...if we did this I suspect highend stereo would quickly enter the mainstream! A whole lot of people want this sound, they just don't know it yet!

I've been thinking a lot about what Macrojack said. I don't know about the rest of you but going to a hi-fi shop, as an enthusiastic consumer, has almost always been a BIG disappointment to me. Picture this: you're excitement built, you walk in to you're local shop, you look around for a couple of minutes and a crusty old salesman strolls over to say "hello, how can I (or we) help you today?" I don't know about the rest of you but I always find myself WANTING TO SAY something like: "Well, for starters, you could take a shower...and maybe shave...or just wear some clothes that are less than 10 - 15 years old." But what I DO SAY is something like: "Oh, hello, my name's Bruce, I've been having a problem with this (insert equipment piece here) piece of gear and wanted to stop in to check out a (insert well-researched equipment piece here.) "Well, 1st of all (in a condescending tone, the salesman replies,) you don't want a (insert well-researched equipment piece here), you want this (insert non-researched equipment piece here.) "Okay, why not?" I reply. The salesperson replies, "Here, have a seat (on this dirty ol' sofa or chair,) let me go find a (particular & likely unfamiliar - to me at least) cd." So, for 2 - 3 minutes I'm stuck there waiting for them to return with some music I (most likely) care nothing for, while I could be exploring the gear in that room. They come back muttering something to themselves like "where on earth did that damn disc go?" "Okay, listen to this..." the salesman demands. Hmm, smooth jazz, GREAT, my favorite (not.) The salesman disappears again for 5 minutes and comes back to ask "so...?" "Well, to be honest (cause it's the best policy ;), it sounds like there's a speaker wired out of phase." "No, the salesman replies, I checked 'em (the speakers' phase) MYSELF, last week." "Okay, thanks for the demo, but I've got to get going." "Alright, says the salesman, 'here's my card, let me know if I can help you." Where do you think THAT card is going? Arghh!...very frustrating, but VERY TYPICAL! With sales people as enthusiastic and knowledgeable as him - it's no wonder more people don't care about (and aren't willing to make any space and time for) audio! A passion for the high end audio hobby is just like any other hobby; it's the net result of "seeds" correctly planted & properly maintained in the minds of newcomers by fellow passionate hobbyists. Imao audio is less like a disease (or "infection") & more like a religion. Thus, it's the responsibility of the "church (of hi-fi") to convert & help newcomers establish a meaningful relationship with the hi-fi gods. If we don't do it - who will?
-The Reverend Bruce30
Ps. Show me a kid who enjoys his (or her) parent's hobby & I'll show you 100 more who don't.

Amen brotha'!