Why Don't More People Love Audio?

Those of us interested in high-end do say "Whoa!!!! Cool!" on a regular basis. However, for the most part, the things that make us say this are not appreciated by the common audio consumer, e.g. soundstaging, accuracy, "you are there" reproduction.

Should we once again pander to the least common denominator? The average joe is almost always impressed by Bose's sizzle and boom. Should that be the sound for which struggling high-end manufacturers ought to be reaching? Many of us already have better sound quality than 99% of people have heard and yet the biggest question I get from non-knowing visitors is "How loud does it go?" If the HE manufacturers innovate to give even more realistic sound, will anyone other than us care?

Kthomas, you must live in an enlightened community because I would venture the number to be about 1 in 1000 that have been in a HE store.

I have to disagree on your last statement. Almost nobody that listens to my system has ANY clue as to how much time and money it took to get it to sound as good as it does (IMHO). Although they almost all ask how much it costs, very few ask me where they could buy a similar system even if I don't tell them how much it costs. Mark Levinson's new gig (Red Rose) offers all in one packaged solutions. I doubt he will sell significantly more than other HE dealers selling the stuff under his name.

I do agree however with your and others assertions that the current cultural bias against listening as an end is what holds HE back.