What's going on with the audio market?

The Internet is impacting brick-and-motors. Some people brag about listening to equipment in a store, making a decision based upon their audition and the dealer's recommendation and then purchasing it for less on the Internet. Ethical to burn the dealer's overhead like that?

I believe digital, as good as it is, plays a part in music not being as important in people's lives.  While you can sit back and say that sounds fantastic(an intellectual reaction), it still doesn't quite bring about the relaxation that analog can.  In other words, the need to listen to music for what it can give you in this area, has diminished(i.e.,it's no longer as relaxing).

mmakshak-

obama did not end the recession, he not only prolonged it, made it worse.
Do you know the figure of our National debt? WAKE UP!

I don’t have the measured data to support this view other than being a 55/40 who has watched the industry, but it seams to me the amount of gear available today is broader and deeper than at any time in my 40 years. Much has been driven by the growth in the eastern rim bringing in a lot of new players and such. Without getting political, the breadth of the US market has been limited by the disposable income of the middle class and Gen X. As (or if) this condition corrects itself over the next generation I still think the same aspects of the high-end that attracted current buyers will penetrate the segment of the consumer market know on hold.

There are tons of young buyers who love their music on the cheap and for mobility that will fall for the same things in live performance simulation that have driven the human condition to music for thousands of years. We are wired for its effects.

@jafant  enough about Obama and the economy and politics please this is not the place for it,  not to mention an ironic place to complain about the economy.