2. digital
  3. 135163-541

Oppo Ceasing production

Just visited Oppo's web site.  They are ceasing production of all their products and will only do warranty work and firmware support for their products.  They no longer have the resources to manufacture new products.  Didn't see this one coming.
stereo5
vrao81
64 posts
 
As someone who is relatively young (36), and a long time member of this forum, I have to say that yes, High End is doomed. None of my friends in my age range are into this hobby, and the high prices of gear are a definite turn off to younger people/millenials. Even I don't spend much money on gear, I tend to stick to budget components and have rarely spent over $300 on a single component. I tend to buy mainly on audiogon and other forums. I haven't so much as walked into a B&M audio dealer in 14 years. 
vahes
47 posts
 

High end has always been a niche within a niche and it is shrinking, I do not believe that it is a dying hobby, there will always be high end, but as the market share shrinks manufacturers of high end keep on jacking up the already astronomical prices to make up for the lost sales, we will see more of them going bankrupt in the near future.

Credit goes to home theater and also the young generation who listen to free music on their portable devices, the sound coming through these digital devices is like listening to music through high frequency drivers only, but kids grow up with this and will never know what quality is all about.

Who knows maybe some of this will survive in the Far East, they seem to be more receptive to high end than the West, but we shall see.


kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
stereo5, your story is very telling of the state of the affairs in the 2-channel home audio interest. I’m about your age and with the exception of a handful of remaining friends from college, I don’t know of anyone else, at any age, who actually owns a decent stereo system at their homes, even the ones whose kids actually play various instruments. The weird thing is most of them know and track new music and bands but use nothing else except earbuds. When my buddy’s son graduated from high school I bought him a nice Creek integrated and a pair of Wharfdale speakers for his college. Later I heard he returned them and got a nice pair of earphones instead. Damn good pair I must admit.
tomcarr
1,589 posts
 
Same situation here, I'm 58, have had 2-ch systems since putting together my first at age 15. None of my friends buy music. None of my kids have any interest in my current system. Even my wife (who's close enough to perfect for me), can't share my interest in JUST LISTENING TO MUSIC. 
My thoughts are: We can't be wrong, what's wrong with everybody else???
larryi
4,188 posts
 

There is no way to determine, absent more information, why they closed the business.  Someone can make a really great product (great design, high performance, reliable, and reasonably priced) and be in a vibrant market and still fail because of business decisions made (e.g., taking on too much debt, critical parts supplier no longer making the parts available). 

What is more surprising to me is how some companies can make really crappy stuff and continue to thrive. 

More to discover