Some bullet points based on perceptions of what’s under the bell curve. The modal demographic. For context.. I’m a 58yo audiophile. Supposedly. In the hobby since the 1980’s.
- Young ppl (under 30.. maybe even 35 to 40yo’s in cities) tend to live in apartments (so headphones) or their parents homes.. so, headphones.. or if lucky, a minimal near-field system with a cheap computer, PlayStation, Apple TV or Wiim as a source. They don’t want to see our expansive spreads of hardware.
- Older people (traditional audiophiles) tend to own their homes outright and spend a lot on gear.. they can leverage their home equity.. have a dedicated room.. a yard as a buffer zone.. and home audio is after all a part of our homes, and complete systems can now easily cost more than was paid for the home originally. The market has shifted to reflect this low-volume, high profit margin demographic as SFR home ownership diminishes and MFR’s flourish.
This is systemic in many areas of the economy and (imho) largely because of Federal Reserve banking practices over the last four decades as a response to the fear of 1929 reoccurring.
- High-end audio can now be described (somewhat metaphorically) as male jewelry.. ’the big watch’ ..with opulent superfluous finishes where the cosmetic attributes of the gear could even describe something pre-Bolshevik.. an ostentatious attempt in visually underpinning one’s supposed affluence by owning it. However.. unlike a watch.. it’s personal.. you don’t flaunt it in public, but you may invite people over to enjoy it. It is largely personal but it’s more than that.
- Young people hate this. Perhaps they want theirs but can’t afford it.. and likely will never be able to because of student loans and the unlikely prospect of ever owning a real home to enjoy high-end home audio (let alone spending an additional $50k on their system cabling for an extra 5% in performance). They may reject all this merely in principle. They are stuck with a ’hot-head’ in their headphones. Literally.
I personally respect (and prefer) companies who cram quality components, a mountain of R&D and passion.. under a cost effective utilitarian surface, but if someone wants to opt for a $5k up-charge for their speaker’s hand-lacquered rosewood, carbon inlays or hand-burnished rhodium contacts.. go for it. I won’t agree, nor complain.. but others might.. and it might get passive-aggressive.