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High End is Dead?

Browsing used audio sites such as Audiogon and the Marts, high end gear ads are dominated by several dealers. Non-dealer ads are usually people trying to push 15+ year old off-brand junk at 60-70% of MSRP (when they were new). They don't sell anything. You could slash Wilsons, Magicos, etc, 50% off retail and no one will buy them.

No one buys if it costs more than 1k. It's not that they're not interested -- the ads get plenty of views. It's that the asking prices are just way over the ability of buyers to pay. Fact is, if you see a high end piece for sale it's probably by a dealer, often times trying to push it at 15% off retail because its a trade in, but also often they are taking a good chunk off the price 30, 40 sometimes 50% off. They can be famous brands with a million positive reviews. No buyers.

Are we just poor, and that's all there is to it? 
madavid0
kthomas
911 posts
 
I don't know about HEA, but the effectiveness and utility of this site as a way to buy and sell used gear has greatly diminished in recent years.  The number of daily ads is way down, and if it wasn't for all the repeat dealer ads, it would be a trickle compared to the "old days".  

I'm not sure what this means.  Maybe that used audio is still a vibrant market, but it happens somewhere else?  Maybe that after relentless luxury upgrading over the past few decades, and all the new competing luxury items to buy, that people are happy with what they've acquired already?  Maybe that the prime market for HEA is aging and worried more about a secure later life?

There is no doubt in my mind that the market has changed considerably, that there are far fewer B&M dealers than 20 years ago, and that the high end of high end has moved to the stratospheric.  I think the notion of HEA being "dead" is just semantics - lots and lots has changed, but what area of life hasn't?
schubert
7,386 posts
 
What part hasn't ?
The part where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer .
craigl59
307 posts
 
Schubert:
Or, the old quote, "The rich get richer and the poor get children..."
The trends noted here are the natural result of the cultural downturn in musical activities and the shift towards streaming -- where you can get anything immediately at no or low cost.
Who is going to spend huge amounts on a system in order to stream MP3 files? Well over 60% of current listeners stream only and this delights the small crowd controlling the process because they can ensure some revenue from each listen. But musicians lose.
High res MP3 (LOL) and MQA files might move this large crowd towards higher end audio equipment but there are a lot of unknowns. Who would have thought that Spotify would get the kind of stock opening it just received? As with Amazon and Google wonder if the big money has made its choice for the music streamer of the future.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,976 posts
 

Being surrounded by other musicians my whole life, I was always alone in my hi-fi pursuits. Not only are they for some reason not particularly interested, they are also almost always far too poor to buy good hi-fi. The still-living ones I know now listen to CD's on their computers, not having a hi-fi of ANY sort. What disposable income they do have they spend on better (or more) instruments.

If you know any, you know they almost all have been supported, to one degree or another, by a girlfriend or wife their whole lives. Even semi-famous ones, who don't necessarily ever see much money. When Commander Cody was enjoying his only hit, "Hot Rod Lincoln", band guitarist Bill Kirchen complained that he was still making less than a Berkeley (where the band lived) garbage man.

When I met with Evan Johns the night before we began recording the Moontan album, he played on a boombox---his "hi-fi"---the demo tape of the songs we were to record. Not long after, his longtime girlfriend had finally had enough of him (he drank heavily, and could be "prickly"), and gave him the boot. He was semi-homeless until a disabled-musicians benefit organization gave him a room in their Austin Texas residence building, where he lived out his remaining years, finally dying last year at age 60 from liver failure.

I suppose the above has nothing to do with this thread, but I just was informed of yet another contemporary of mine dying, again of lung cancer. A lot of musicians start smoking (and drinking) at a young age. When you start playing in bars (even if you're 16, as was I), the free drinks make up for the low pay, and a cigarette sure goes well with a beer or whiskey.

efort
14 posts
 
I am in my mid 40's I have been into this since I was a kid and saw my neighbors dad's system. About ten years ago I was able to put together my dream system. And continue to upgrade as I can. When friends come over they don't get it. "That's worth how much?" They agree it sounds great, but they tell me how good their Snonos sounds. I do agree it seems like a dying hobby.  My teen age kids love their I pods Companies are pricing their gear out of reach. When I go to the shows I see and hear the new products but it seems tough to justify the $$$ to upgrade. Is there hope for the future generations to embrace this hobby and can they afford it?

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