YouTube Indicates What the Future is For Audiophiles - Interesting Demographics.

I think the concern about the death of audiophiles is a bit melodramatic. Perhaps at the high-end spectrum but the growth in mid-fi/future-fi products that are all-in-ones that can do many things is where the growth will be. 

Despite the growth of streaming as a means to "consume" music, people are still purchasing music and predominately in the physical format. 

This recent article in Headphonesty talks about the growth of CD sales, particularly among younger people. With digital downloads on the decline among music buyers. Will they be listening to their CD and vinyl collection on high-end gear? No. But they will be listening on something...even if it is entry point equipment. 

So if the older audiophiles are concerned that a younger generation isn't following in their footsteps it's probably because the audiophiles aren't doing a good job of mentoring younger people. If your first response to a young person who is buying a turntable for the first time is to crap on their decision to buy an entry point Audio Technica TT hooked up to Bluetooth speakers then you're missing an opportunity to encourage them on the path to enjoying their hobby of building a music collection and the opportunity to upgrade over time to better equipment that will bring out the best of their collection.

@sokogear IMO Steely Dan has bad songs...Black Cow being one of them. As does Rush, Yes, the list goes on for me. I've tried many times to make it through certain Steely Dan albums that others considered great and have yet to find a single album that I can listen to from beginning to end. They're just not my cup of tea and while I can listen to them in bits and pieces I'm not going to die on a hill hating or loving them. 

@rooze 

To clarify, I believe that there is a lot of boxed-in thinking when it comes to sound reproduction, both from an engineering perspective and from an evaluation standard.  Everyone wants to make everyone else believe that they are right.  Absurd and ignorant.  We are not all alike - thank God!  As such, we do not all appreciate the reproduction of music in the same way.  So we should all stop being so persnickety about trying to make everyone think and hear and listen like us.  I am 46 and believe and I am likely in the generation that bridges the gap, so to speak, between the hard-core, stalwart audiophiles and my kids who listen exclusively to headphones and our whole-house audio system.  While they appreciate my listening den with about 40K worth of gear, they stay only for 1 or 2 songs before they are off to the next thing.  That's the way it is going to be.  

@bipod72 - if you're not a fan of SD, you're not a fan. Some people think they are too slick or "Yacht Rock"y - everyone is entitled to their opinion. But you cannot deny their incredible musicianship and recording quality. They are in a class by themselves and should have their own SirriusXM channel. Black Cow is a great song, especially live. I'ver seen them over 20 times including solo Fagen, Dukes of September and NY Rock and Soul Revue concerts.

I would like to know of any other group out there where every album is worth owning and you would not want to skip a song.

If, as some have suggested, this is a societal issue, another sign that the gap in wealth is growing and being concentrated more among an ever decreasing percentage of the population, then that’s a sad indictment of where we’re all at.

The good news is that in the USA, the standard of living has been increasing every generation across classes due to increases in worker productivity, aided by technology....

but yeah tech billionaires have been concentrating wealth...I think that's a good problem to have...they create jobs....many high paying. but that's politics so i will stop there ;-)

Congratulations on your channel.