Well, I'm 40, but I'm certainly glad that there are a lot of people under 30 who are into music and audio equipment. I had a nice stereo when I was in my 20's, but couldn't afford to really pursue high-end. Still, music was my constant companion at home, and I had several friends who really enjoyed just hanging out listening to music, with the passion for the music being the main point but also having an appreciation for the sound quality. Now I don't have a single friend who is what I would describe as "really into" music, and nobody save a single acquaintance who would go beyond buying a basic A/V receiver with modest speakers to play it on. Then there's the problem of musical taste - everyone either is stuck listening to the same music they've listened to for 30 years, or they've sunk into ambient music that would be hard to passionate about under any circumstances. A great many people over 30 who are passionate about music are into genres that I'm not as excited about - I still like musical styles I liked in my 20's.
Life is ironic this way - when you really have the time and energy to pursue something like music, the gear is way out of your budget and you have to watch how much you spend on CDs etc. You get older and you can afford the nice stuff and you can afford to buy CDs by the handfull if you so choose, but so many have lost interest. Maybe they weren't all that interested in the first place.
In any case, I'm glad to have the sub-30 crowd around and hope they don't unilaterally reject the old fogeys on the board :-) -Kirk
