Where are the young audiophiles?

I would argue that the demographic in question aren’t too poor to afford the average system discussed on Audiogon, they could care less. They like good sound but want it packaged to fit them: decor friendly, space friendly, user friendly. This group could generally care less about a Porsche 911 and instead would prefer a Cayenne, a X5 or a FFRR...something that can easily carry their gear and their dog. I have one acquaintance who spent over $250k so that he could have the ultimate 1980 Toyota FJ40. Why? Because that’s what he would rather drive.

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I believe you are correct. Most people on here I suspect have had good systems since their 30's. Maybe not everyone, but a lot of people. That is not occurring with todays 30 years olds and lots of them have money. The bottom end is poor, but the top end is doing well. They may not have the space, but their priorities are different.

@ghasley - the market you are talking about Is something like the top .1% or smaller. Maybe a few of them care about audio, but will just ask someone to give them the best system for the room they have or have a room built for it.

Also, not to nit pick, but I doubt you have any clients worth 12 (let alone 11) figures, unless you count Elon Musk, Warren Buffett or Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates (pre divorce) as clients. 11 figures would be $10+ billion, also a very, very small number - .00001% maybe. So you should probably say 8-10 figures, which means you serve some billionaires, which is still pretty impressive. Can’t even imagine what I’d do with that responsibility.

@sokogear You are of course correct that the very top end of the range I shared is quite rare but I sheepishly stick by the range I listed. The range is the range. It wasn’t intended to initiate a discussion on whether they exist or not. I can understand that it might not seem reasonable. Doesnt seem real to me either. At the end of the day, I just happen to serve people of considerable means. I also clearly understand my role in my little ecosystem: I am the little white bird you see on top of the giant pile of elephant droppings so to speak. The mere fact that you listed some names also begs the question that not all immense wealth is listed or publicly available. Frankly, most in the demographic guard their privacy through a myriad of entities and LLC’s.


The point I was trying to make was if a 22 year old who went from college into a rapidly growing wealth cycle and they wake up at 30 with a 7, 8 or 9 figure net worth over an 8 year period. They typically embraced audio along the way (because they entertain for business and social reasons) and upgraded along the way but in that demographic form factor, sound quality and aesthetics matter equally. Im not picking on our hobby but an entire system of 20 boxes laid out in grids with fat cables and monolithic speakers(unless they are interesting aesthetically, industrial designs) are nowhere to be seen. Nor is a room like that with a single chair rather than seating for a larger group. This is a group of influencers if they even allow publicity into their lives. I also pointed out younger co-workers of mine and their habits. It was just intended to point out that the industry has to change to meet the customer’s desires.

@ghasley - Sounds like the old Bang and Olufson products would work for your clients....much more for the look than the sound, although they did have some fans that thought the sound was very good (me not among them).

Also, not all audiophiles want their systems to look like physics labs, mainly because they are not in mancaves or hidden, they are like mine, in a den, where some electronics can be seen, but it can't look weird or completely out of place. I'm lucky I am able to have my speakers 3 feet from the wall :-) and they sound excellent outside of the one perfect sweet spot seat that is ideal to listen to.

I thought US' wealthiest people were known - if there are indeed those worth >$100B that I didn't mention, I would be surprised, but I guess it is possible they can stay that far under the radar with lawyers, LLC's, and frontmen like you say. 

@sokogear B&O was certainly a function follows form company through the years and I agree with you regarding their sound quality. I will admit I had a B&O turntable in college anchored by a pretty mediocre receiver driving some old Frazier Seven speakers. It was the only turntable I could afford that didn't mistrack terribly when there was a rowdy get together LOL.

Once again, wealth is worn differently by different people as we can all agree. You are somewhat correct that many high net worth individuals are listed in Forbes, et al and they may be easily identified while there are numerous others who may not.

For example, when we see a company go public and they speak of the founder's 30% stake in the company now being worth billions, there is typically less fanfare assigned to those who funded the startup in the background. I have to tread carefully but for every face we see ringing the bell at the NYSE there are faces we will never see or hear about....they prefer it that way. Then, there are those who religiously avoid the public markets to avoid the accompanying public scrutiny.