High End is Dead?

I am fine with the question "Is high end dead?"  I don't think the poster is picking a fight, but is making a point with his question.

For me, this is the time of building my nice system.  But, it took me until I was 55 before I could afford to do it, and even with that, I tend to buy used or demo gear.  Otherwise, I would not be able to afford anywhere near as nice of a system.

I like tube amps (and preamps) and vinyl-- even with it's associated quirks and maintenance.  But, most of my friends can't even contemplate a $1,600 turntable, let alone a $1,600  machine to clean records.  I think high end audio is  kind of a solo, self-indulgent hobby, which makes it inherently a small demographic group.  Couple that with the time we have available to actually listen to music, and it's no surprise that audiophiles tend to be nearly all old guys.

Anyway, I like this forum, have developed some friendships from it, and have received lots of help from the more experienced folks who participate.  They have kept me from making expensive, disastrous gear decisions, and have nudged me in the right direction.  So, I'm good.  Thanks.

Why would anyone post this? Who cares? This has been said for years.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and we have a lot of dynamics which are affecting the high-end market. That $72k average household income does not go very far here. The high cost of living means that people have less disposable income.

The @theothergreg makes a good point.  I lived in the SF-Bay area from 1976 to 1983.  San Jose and Fremont to be exact.  Many, myself included have moved into California's Central Valley or out-of-state entirely, where its more affordable.  And yes - the traffic and commutes in the Bay Area are awful.

The SF-Bay area has more to offer in the way of HEA dealers but affordable housing and a livable wage is an issue with many people being apartment dwellers, in some kind of shared housing arrangement or living with mom and pop.  The median rent in S.F. for a 1 bdrm apartment use to be around $3500/mo., and that apartment may only be 800 sq. ft.

When I moved to the Sacramento region in 1986, Sacramento had maybe 4 or 5 what you could consider HEA dealers.  There is only one left that I'm aware of  - maybe two.

With the introduction of the iPod, iPads, iTunes and streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, et al, many don't see the need to spend what disposable income they have on what they consider very expensive audio equipment.  Just walk into any gym or visit any school or college campus and you will see earbuds, earbuds and more earbuds. 

They want their music to go where they go.

I would go so far as to say many people these days may have never attended a "live" concert.  They don't know what music is supposed to sound like because they're so used to listening to compressed music.  That's not to say you can't put together a decent sounding system without spending mega bucks.   What's expensive to me may not be true for you and vice versa.

You have to find a balance for what's comfortable and reasonable for you.  Not everyone can afford to plunk down $600K for a pair of Magico Ultimate III's and what it entails to drive them - and just because you can afford them doesn't mean you will buy them.  It's called priorities.

Personally, if I had an extra $600K laying around, I'd rather put it into real estate, some other investment or do some traveling - I would not spend it on HEA.  I don't feel the need to impress.  I'm not into conspicuous consumption. 

Having said that, I still don't believe HEA is dead but for many, it has lost it's luster. 

Nearly every big American City has become expensive . Here in St Paul
average home price has increased 40% in 4 yrs as wages have stayed stable .And they are far lower than coastal cities .
No house stays on Market longer than 3 days even if it’s a dump .
Two blocks from me a 190 unit seniors only condo with prices from 250-450 $$
opened 6 moths ago and was sold out 6 months before it was completed .
There is no affordable housing being built in USA and it appears there never will be again .
  And no generation will ever again exist that  became wealthy only because all the other industrial countries
  were flat on their back from WW II .

gnaudio , Brilliant and and informative post .
One thing I would say , that 10 year out recession is far from being resolved . The present market bubble is
there only to prolong the inevitable . The US dollar was hours from collapse in 2008, factors that caused it
have been ignored and that chicken will come home to roost .A 401K buck put in today is in Zurich tomorrow .

Without getting into the socio-political aspects of this, maybe some new definitions are in order. With turntables at 80k and up, arms at say 10k+, top tier phono carts retailing at 10-15k (not that people pay full sticker), and the rest an almost sky is the limit in terms of electronics and speakers in the top tier (what the "high end" used to refer to), I think of this as more of a luxe goods category. There are some customers for this, but I don’t think it reflects the majority of hobbyists. Audiogon caters to used equipment buyers and sellers and that’s where a lot of the hobbyists can make up for the high prices on new gear since it depreciates in most cases.
Those who will scrimp, save, upgrade or build upon a system owned for years are probably shrinking. I’m not even sure it has to do strictly with economics, but also lifestyle and priorities.
Those of us who grew up with two channel audio only systems for focused listening are aging out.
Although some younger people may get into the hobby, the market is far different- it’s portability, access through the cloud or on multiple devices, ease of use and cheap. (Look at the antique furniture market- dead. People want new, clean, almost disposable furniture; sure there will be collectors, but they fit into that top tier niche).
Let’s not forget that even when we Boomers were coming of age, we weren’t buying Levinson, Infinity Servo-Statik, Tympanis or ARC unless we were in deep (not average) and/or until we got some money-- usually earning power didn’t begin until a little later in life. I had some serious gear at a young age, but I was a ’nut’ and had access b/c I worked in stores at the time. The average system then- a receiver, a pair of bookshelf speakers and a modest turntable-- was not high end. People did get together and listen in a home environment- but this home listening activity wasn’t limited to the high end. It is an activity -- the listening session- that is no longer common, except to hi-fi nuts.
I think a lot has to do with how people live today. Spend a grand on a phone or 3 grand on a laptop or more on a big TV, but two channel audio isn’t really a priority. I think high end has been dying for decades. Remember how all the dealers had to shift to big A/V systems in the ’90s to stay in business? That was twenty or more years ago. I think the hobby will survive. It already has. The names may change, but there will always be enthusiasts.