So, he should be courting Viagra and Depends as advertisers on his website. We should think of products and services to target older males who make up almost all of the serious audiophile world--I think high end hearing aids is an example.
«40% Of Audiophiles Are Dying And No One Is Doing Anything About It!»
Interesting video of Jay's audio lab reflections about the audiophile world:
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He is wrong about a few things. The 'bullsh' 'cheap' headphones actually sound pretty good these days. I am shocked by what I hear from a cheap pair of hifiman headphones these days. My area has lots of 'younger' hometheater dudes, diy'ing their subwoofers, room treatments and all that... very enthusiastic crowd, the energy's all there....and guess what? Their stuff sounds pretty good, quite entertaining and it works for the different things they like to do, watching movies, listening to 'young people' music, playing 'call of duty', etc. Why would they want to deal with some monster one trick pony hifi rig that doesn't even sound all that good... It's a cultural shift. Hifi 'purism' killed it all, imo.... Deal with it. |
I’m the same age as Jay and yeah it’s lonely in this range (and younger) in the USA. I’m good friends with the 3 I know around my own age in a LARGE metropolitan area. I’ve encountered a few more here and there (gear buy / sell) -they’re certainly out there but it’s rare. Part of it is the USA’s culture shift - a few other regions / cultures have more of an audiophile tilt. Some of the older dudes I get along with great, and others - well, there’s a reason we get associated to some bad tropes & stereotypes. The women have always been rare as hen’s teeth. There are a few here and there, but in general they’re wired differently and have priorities that don’t lead them down this particular path. And that’s OK - don’t force what’s not there. Anyways if I hooked up with an audiophile gal I’d probably be broke on the streets in a month; I’m bad enough as is. |
Look at the prices of what Jay’s is selling. He caters to a very rarefied clientele and one that is likely of an age advanced enough to be able to afford that stuff and advanced enough to be approaching death at the same time. As for demographic collapse, no other country can compare to China. Of course, China is also facing financial collapse. Used equipment sites in China will be vast in number. This could ultimately be one of those situations in which high end equipment can be had for low prices thus jump starting another round of audiophile discovery and enthusiasm. |
@hilde45 +1 |
you cant take him seriously he pulls up a graph of the age groups who watch his Chanel obviously they are going to be older people who can afford his products. most younger audiophiles are interested in streaming loud speakers and systems and headphones all these products t are way less expensive then the ultra high end products jay reviews |
I did not watch the video. 20 years ago, we were waiting for SACD to die. Now we are waiting for audiophiles to die? Not complaining - but SACD/DSD did not die. So hoping the same for this hobby as well. Probably there are a a lot of younger folks who do not like to post here because of the "old world" biases that they might not like. And I don't blame them. Folks here keep dissing Class D Vs AB Vs tubes, Analog Vs Digital, etc. So, I would not really care for anything about audiophiles dying. We all will die one day - just enjoy what you have now. |
I am not worry about audiophile country population... I dont give a damn... But i like Jay as human... Myself my system cost 1000 bucks speakers+ headphone and i am not envious one second about any Jay's gear pieces... Acoustics rule... I posted this because it is a reflection about a change in society... i dont think we will think a lot about audio this year...
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Listening Jay video i realize how much we are different... He said that he enjoy visual cues because in the dim light music can become boring. He said that visual cue are more powerful than sound. I prefer darkness. Sounds may be less "attractive" in the first moment then visual cues but music and voices are way more powerful coming slowly more deeply inside us than any visual attractions. Sounds wait for our attention to give meanings. Visuals cues impose themselves. We must decipher music with total attention or a voice in a way visual movie or scenery is all prepared like a ready to cook meal. Music is the first way we communicate in the womb and the last perceptive meanings to disapear. i never listened as Jay did all the time from upgrade to the next, the "performance" of my gear pieces. I used acoustic experiments and listening experiments for a long period to set the system/room right for my ears. I ought to learn how to do it and nobody teach that. I listen music now, it is done and i know how to do it. The system /room is not there as an obstacle or a limitation, because it is optimal (for price paid)
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thanks @mahgister for starting the thread. i do think that people are moving away from traditional hifi setups towards streaming, wireless and stuff that "just works" with lifestyle etc and i do agree with @deep_333 re: the cheaper stuff now is a lot better than it used to be. unfortunately it seems like global demographic collapse is also upon us. and in this situation, i really do not seeing younger people being passionate about hifi like previous generations did... i'm curious though, as of 2025 - what are your most impactful recent discoveries. since you mention the importance of acoustics etc alot in other threads. (i mostly agree with you, btw, so asking for your latest tips!) |
No reason for dramatic whistleblowing. Bigger part of audiophiles are just not public. They don’t participate in any forums and community discussions and just peacefully enjoying their hobby. I personally know a couple such audiophiles. One of them is high level physicist with bunch of patents, who built his system based on his scientific knowledge and principles and doesn’t care about any trends or opinions, just enjoying great music in best available quality for him. |
I look at the nice equipment but don’t agree with 1/2 his decisions synergy is far more important then the amount of $$ monies spent. i have 40 years + in Audio as a Audiophile ,owned a Audio store for a decade as well as many years in sales I would never sell a product I didnot believe in in for its quality and value , let your ears be the judge , not the $$ money !! |
As a septuagenarian still acquiring new gear I'm fully conscious of whistling past the graveyard. No relative surviving me will want any of this stuff. My estate auctioneer won't even discover the hi-fi aftermarket. But that's OK. Got a dear friend, serious music lover and an old soul despite having parents younger than me. Apparently I did him trifling kindnesses many years ago -- forgotten by me, but momentous to him. Having connected in recent times via gastronomical events, last October we sat up until 4am downing 5 bottles of wine (good stuff) and grooving on 2-channel audio with The War on Drugs plus a great deal else. Pretty sure he would take my amps and speakers if he gets a dedicated 2-channel room by the time I croak. So there's that, and that's something. |
Why should audiophiles care about whether the future generations care about this hobby? I have no skin in the game in the sense I'm not generating income from this, and beside the people who know about my obsession with the hobby think I'm crazy. Music is simply background noise for help in setting mood while involved in other activities for vast majority. Sitting in the dark listening to music played over a high end system for hours without distraction isn't a consideration in the hectic world of today. |
None of this is news. We are dying off and most of our prized gear and physical media will end up in landfills or museums. I feel for the younger ones that are feeling lonely; hell I feel lonely; I know perhaps one audiophile in my bubble of the world. I’ve tried proselytizing but I guess I’m no good at it. Maybe you guys are better at it. In my experience you can’t make someone crave filet mignon and a fine Cabernet when they are happy with Taco Bell and Angry Orchard |
Yes, you see there's this fuse, you know, it's costly but once installed, your lifespan is extended indefinitely. Oh, you also need the cable that comes with it. Also expensive. But just those two things -- fuse and cable. Oh, one more, there's a power conditioner (pricey) but after that, no more dying. |
I go to this mom/pop Thai restaurant. Mom/pop are constantly arguing/fighting the entire time grub’s made and it is cheap. Service is poor (eat a lot and get your ass going seems to be mom/pop’s motto). But, omg, the food’s amazing!! Filet mignon was always a huge fail in comparison. Some barbarian who had no idea of a spice or flavor profile ever in life cooks a chunk of meat and throws salt on it..he claims it’s ’high culture’ thereafter in his red poppy suit & tie, charges an arm and a leg....Fail Fine Cabarnet?..Fail again.....Some Austin starlight vodka and some freshly squeezed...fresh...fresh...fresh...(Put it on the squeezer right in front of ya fresh) orange juice creates way more euphoria. The filet mignon crap you got sold as high culture is a big letdown, in reality. Remember that. (Doko bell is for the patriots, of course, manna from their gods).
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It’s funny you don’t hear Porsche, Lamborghini and Ferrari making the same dire claims! The audiophile hobby only has the manufactures and audio magazines to blame for this demise of our hobby. Have you been to an audio show lately or read a later audio magazine? The last show I attended had new manufacturers making products that cost 4x to 10x more than a competitor of just a few years ago. Same goes for the products that the audio mags promote as the best ever when I have listened to these products and others costing 1/5 as much and preferred the cheaper model. I was comparing a speaker that was going to cost me over $100k and preferred the $23k speaker. Porsche and Lamborghini for example can charge $1M for a car and they will s ll out, and nobody claims Porsche charges too much, except for the people that can’t afford them. |
@deep_333 Not sure why you're making such a big deal explaining what fresh orange juice is. Anyhow, you've no turntables listed in your Virtual System, so you can't be a real audiophile. |
@michaellent + 1 |
I recently read that you can add 9 years to your life by running 40-50 minutes, 5 times a week. Perhaps we should be skipping the next DAC upgrade and investing in a good pair of running shoes to sustain the useful life of quality audio gear? And postpone the day our widows will rejoice when all our stuff is out of her house, perhaps indefinitely?.
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@noromance I have a SME sitting in storage somewhere, donated to me by a friend when he passed away (it’s being retained in his memory)....but, i don’t use it because i’ve got Daniel Hertz Master Class, which takes my digital files straight back to the genesis... the sound of analog master tape when i want it. Ah, I see that you’ve been botching up the pristine hires digital studio masters and pressing it on vinyl for xtra audiophile cred. Nevertheless, could Levinson/Daniel Hertz’s master class software make me a real audiophile? What do you think?
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The upside to this decline in hi-fi owners (as dark as it sounds) is that there’s opportunity for the 55 and under crowd to pick up some sweet deals from the widows trying to unload all that "unsightly gear my husband left behind and I need to clear it out to remodel the room for my crafting studio. Everything must go!" posts on FB Marketplace. I think about the decline of woodworking as a hobby in the States and how, if you keep an eye out for it, one can pick up some nice, barely-used quality hand planes, chisels, and the occasional vintage Delta cabinet table saws because neither the kids nor the wives of those woodworking hobbyists are remotely interested in keeping all those tools from the woodshop. |
so, HAD top bring these quotes out: In response to this general discussion " Time is the same in a relative way but you're older, Shorter of breath and one day closer to death" (Pink Floyd) This quote I remember hearing when I was in Jr High (same as middle school for you southerners). This was also the time when I spent my time mixing tapes combining Rush guitar solos into new versions with my JVC tapedeck and my parents Dual (united audio) turntable. I was focused on music and was very hungry for equipment that allowed me to immerse myself in it. Today's generation is more introverted, the play with music, but on different platforms - garage band, other computer programs. They have more options out there than we did and mostly listen to their music on headphones, so the equipment lust is not there. it's up to us, we need to follow the verse: "Teach your children well Hopefully some of these kids will get it and not turn it back on you like the song. I bought my son some B&W headphones, he appreciated it but informed me that I shouldn't waste money because he "can't hear the difference" We're losing... |
I’ve noticed this weird correlation between listening to lps and death. Maybe the covariance between listening to lps and age holds a clue. But seriously, the summer before my sophomore year in college, I used a significant chunk of my summer earnings to purchase new speakers for my system - Polk 10s for $600. Using my handy-dandy cpi calculator, that’s $2600 in today’s dollars, which would purchase some pretty kick-ass speakers for a college student today. So I don’t think it’s about debt levels, cost of systems today, etc. It’s just about what younger people value, and what they don’t. When I was younger, the one thing a freshman in college needed before they went to college was a stereo. For my children - the youngest of whom is now 30(!) - we had to make sure they had a good laptop (cuz they already had their phone). And of course we don’t blink twice about spending $1000 on an iphone and $2000 for a laptop. I use a new phone and computer for anywhere from 3-5 years (or more); my kids? More like 1-3 years. So it’s really just about what technology the younger generation values and want to spend their disposable income on (and of course how they listen to music). So the obvious reason for the shrinking audiophile population is that being an audiophile was a natural progression from the way everyone listened to music 50 years ago. Cheap console systems had built in turntables and, in many cases, cassette decks. If you wanted better sound, the path forward was obvious. For our children, the path forward from how they listen to music is more likely improved earbuds or headphones. It’s just not a straight line. So I guess Ive just convinced myself that the audiophile market is a bubble that is almost guaranteed to bust. I’m shorting Harman shares, lol! |
I'm 58 and I cannot think of any of my younger friends or acquaintances that have or want anything more than a home theater receiver and a few speakers. Most are buying "bluetooth speakers" and don't even want to know that their audio is crap. None of them sit and listen to music for the sake of sitting and listening and enjoying. Music is a background thing while they are doing whatever the hell they do for fun. It's sure not obsessing over having the big stereo amplifier to the better pre-amp. It's rare that anyone walking past my audio gear even gives it a second look or asks anything other than " I bet that is loud." It's true, the audiophile of the past is dying off. |
The simple fact is you can get better sound for your money now than when I bought my first system in 1977. The gap b/t entry level and high end is narrower than ever. Streaming/digital is the difference. Those who would argue that haven't listened to a Qobuz through a $200 WIIM over $300 Elac speakers driven by a $100 Fosi amp. I think younger people would rather travel, hike, fine done etc. It takes money to accumulate all the "look at me living a good life" photos posted on social media.
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I have a 29 year old son who is to busy working, gaming or going out with his girlfriend to care about my older Krell Gear so I sold it all off went with the newer Illusion pre and 300xd amp with silver cables This he understands how to use for 2 channel while watching movies on the 80" but has no intrest in gear. This is the younger generation they see no need for hi-end gear. Even though he has peerfect pitch and can play the piano and has worked with me in Chicago doing Pyro for a lot o fhis favorite bands. He just is tobusywith his life to car. |
There's simply no point in getting all worked up over this stuff as it relates to others. It's hard to say how things will develop for the younger generations as on the whole they are inundated with the digital onslaught that began with the personal computer. When "we" were that age what did we have to occupy ourselves? That's how we got into music, that's what we had. No video games, no streaming, no widescreen tv....that's a lot of distraction. They are also not really into quality music, as my bass-playing son mentioned to me. He said the interest in playing a real musical instrument is waning fast to be replaced by electronic stuff. It's just easier. Also, note the difference in the music of decades past as compared to now. Not to say there isn't good music out there, but finding it is kind of like finding good audio. The culture and the inventiveness is just so different now. One never knows, though. I bought a grand piano when I was 30 that none of my four sons touched. Suddenly my 45 year old son began teaching himself on a Yamaha keyboard, and is sending back to his mom to get the piano shipped to him on the Big Island. His "stereo", however is still just a wireless speaker that mainly plays classical. For me, I'm just going to enjoy my fancy new system and let the chips fall. |
I grew up with AM radio listening to pop hits, and jazz. I was never bored. Many in my generation played instruments, studied music in school, marched in parades while playing our instruments. Personally, I played in the school band. Brought my trumpet home each day and practiced it in the garage. I excelled at sports, and played every one of them Growing up there were always baseball games to play in, or we’d go to the school to play on the basketball court. We were physically active, and fit as a result Kids today experience technology overload. They’re not interested in learning to play an instrument. They’d rather play a video game. I think PONG came out in 1972, and you had to visit an arcade simply to drop in a quarter to play it for 5 minutes. Heck, how many before us didn’t even have television?! And they turned out just fine. And they weren’t bored. Easy fix. Turn off the distractions. And discover a whole new world. Take an hour hike. Lift some weights. Ride a bike. There’s so many alternative activities to do it’s ridiculous. Or, remain a slave to your iPhone. It’s all a choice. |
@deep_333 I was just kidding. Anyhow, I'm so old, most of my collection is analog. Before it got sampled like a teleporter.
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You know, there's a certain truth to the idea that audiophiles are, shall we say, "seasoned." It's not that we're born with a penchant for high-fidelity; it's that we have to survive long enough to afford it! In my 30s, between diapers and college funds, "reference level" meant a decent pair of headphones that maybe wouldn't crackle. Now, with the offspring successfully launched into the world, I can finally indulge in the sweet, sweet sound of financial freedom—and a really, really good stereo. Honestly, the best part of being an empty-nester is being able to crank up the volume without someone yelling, "Turn that racket down!" If, by some delightful twist of fate, I shuffle off this mortal coil while nestled in my favorite chair, bathed in the warm glow of vacuum tubes and the glorious sounds of a perfectly pressed LP, please, just let the music play on. Give me a few extra tracks before you call the paramedics. It'll be a symphonic send-off.
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