Why Don't More People Love Audio?

There's sort of two questions here: (1) why isn't high end audio a status symbol and (2) why don't more people love high end audio. With regards to (1), a lot has to do with the perceived technical nature of the audiophile hobby, which implicit means work, not recreation, making it inconsistent with the notion of conspicuous consumption of luxury items. Lack of lifestyle advertising promoting audiphile equipment as status also contributes to this. Note that Bose is successful in part because it does advertise in non audio-oriented magazines, appealing to the luxury of tiny speakers and simple one-box systems. Relative to (2), I don't have a well formed idea. When I first heard a true high end system, the music moved me so that I immediately HAD to have one also, and two weeks later purchased my first set of audiophile grade speakers and the rest is history. My wife and I now enjoy a system that sends shivers up my spine and can move her to tears. Recently I demoed the system to someone who is a wine connoisseur. Being passionate about the nuances of wine, surely he would appreciate refinement in audio, I thought... instead after listening for 30 seconds, he shrugged and said, "gee, I guess one of my speakers at home isn't working", and that was the end of that.

And then there's some additional questions: (3) do we want audiophile equipment to be a status symbol and (4) why would that be beneficial. As far as (3) goes, that's relating back to basic human needs for validation. We've spent gobs of money our equipment. It would be nice to get knowing nods of appreciation instead of puzzled looks. As far a (4) goes, I don't think it would economically beneficial. Look what happened to the price of 4 wheel drive vehicles once having an SUV became a status symbol. It drove the price of practical SUVs (e.g., Chevy Blazer) up to luxury status, and created a class of luxury SUVs with astronomical prices. Those of us who live out in the boonies in snow country don't appreciate that. Audiophile equipment is expensive enough already!

I've always been a big live music fan, but don't have time to go out as much. I know for a fact that i have a high end stereo so I can hear music better. In many ways I prefer it to concerts because I can keep the volume level reasonable, and the fidelity is actually quite a bit higher. I look forward to listening to music when the day is done.

High end audio will never appeal to the average yuppie. It is too sophisticated, it takes a committment, and you can't show it off because nobody understands it. But thank God for that; BMW, amoung other enthusiast brands was ruined by the masses. I would rather keep it to myself, even if anyone was interested.

Actually audio has real snob appeal in many countries in the Far East. Some buyers of expensive stuff love music, others want status. There is no status to hifi in the West. Why, I don't entirely understand. True story: when we first started selling Clayton amps, one guy from Hong Kong came to our setup at HiFi 96, loved the sound, thought about buying our stuff and then was put out to find that our amps sold for under $10K. He said he would lose face and went on to buy a MUCH more expensive set from another long-established company. Of course, the economic crash in the Far East since 1997 has destroyed much of this business and destroyed lots of high end companies along the way. But clearly, advertising would help. It also wouldn't hurt if some big rags hadn't always claimed that all equipment sounds the same. Just my 3 cents worth.