Why Don't More People Love Audio?


Can anyone explain why high end audio seems to be forever stuck as a cottage industry? Why do my rich friends who absolutely have to have the BEST of everything and wouldn't be caught dead without expensive clothes, watch, car, home, furniture etc. settle for cheap mass produced components stuck away in a closet somewhere? I can hardly afford to go out to dinner, but I wouldn't dream of spending any less on audio or music.
tuckermorleyfca6
This thread is probably dead, but I'll give it a try anyway. More people would love audio if they were the target audience of the advertising world. We all know that people in certain age brackets will buy anything that is targeted at them. Nobody can afford to target the high end at more people. Look at Beats. Half-assed $500 headphones that every kid on earth would own if they could. Because they got some cool guys telling them they're good. So they are. If Mark Levinson or B&W or Naim had Puffy or whomever the kids emulate tell them 100 times a day that they had to have a Levinson/Wilson system, they would kill themselves to own one. But the companies aren't willing to put up the millions it takes to buy these guys. Do you think Jeter really drives a Ford Edge? He probably wouldn't use one as his toilet. The kids obviously love music - they listen to it constantly, so it's just a matter of convincing them how to do it. No problem for Madison Avenue. I just wish it would happen. Really.
This question could be asked by a wood worker, baker, gamer, quilt or model maker. Here's you answer. It's expensive and you sit on your arse to do it.
It's a great hobby for all of us but some people like to be more active in their bobbies. We don't tend to share but amongst ourselves on these forums. A wood worker or model builder likes to create and show off. We create our system but tend to keep it a secret. I fully understand why there's not more audiophiles. Some people just don't have the time, money or interest. My last boss to,d me he didn't like music. Now there's a question. Who doesn't like music?
I'd venture to guess that (due to the whole 'cost-vs-complexity' thing) we're almost 'forced' to keep it a secret. I mean people tend to get different results with different systems anyway. Heck, even experienced audiophiles can often end up disagreeing on what it takes to get started and build a good system. Experience at system building can be harder to come by than many newcomers may even suppose and they may be either at sea about who to go to for advice they feel they can count on or don't quite realize how much of a learning curve there can be...or maybe they DO sense that and believe it will be overwhelming or time-consuming. At any rate, I tend to suspect that it's perhaps somehow even rare to actually be "bitten by the bug" in the first place. Poll most audiophiles and you may find that among many 'hardcore' ones, anyway, they not only often trace their interest back into their childhood, but can also relate it to even a specific event - a moment in which things crystallized for them, and some kind of dream is born. I know I can. But, maybe I'm right about that and maybe I'm not, I guess.