HAVE ALL SALES STOPPED ON AUDIOGON ???

This thread made me reflect on the generation gap. When I was in high school and college in the 1970's, music and audio was the focal point of a lot of social interaction.  My friends and I spent countless hours listening to the latest albums by Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, etc., smoking joints, talking to friends while listening . . . We always gravitated to the friend who had the best listening room and stereo.  When I could afford some "good" equipment, which I recall were Phase Linear 3000 separates and Epicure Trilogy speakers, my place in college was a social center.  Picking albums to listen to was part of the social "scene."  HEA was something I started to chase.  Music as a relaxing time out has been with me for 50 years.  I strive to get the sound that reproduces being "there."

My stepson is 28.  His age group was raised on iPhones and iPods and the isolation that focusing on one's phone 24/7 brings.  He likes coming over and getting turned on to the "old school" rock in my music room.  He and his buddies still listen to music when they are together (I guess EDM counts as music), but they are perfectly content to use a bluetooth speaker and play their mixes off of their iPhones.  Techno, dubstep, EDM does not seem to engender the appreciation of "being there," perhaps because you are never "there."  It is manufactured electronically and played back through a laptop or DJ electronic setup.  Do they really look forward to getting together and listening to the latest track by Steve Aoki?

I try to instill in him an appreciation for sound quality, and just gave him his first somewhat real sound system, a 5.1 setup by KEF.  We'll see where that leads.  Since the early days, AudioGon always allowed me to reach equipment well beyond my pay grade, even as my pay grade adjusted upwards.  Perhaps the lack of demand for "silly" priced equipment is due to the lack of new blood and insufficient demand for it by those that know or think they know the difference between one $8,000 preamp and another.  Or perhaps there is some recognition that paying $5K for a set of interconnects doesn't sound $4500 better than $500 interconnects.  The law of diminishing returns certainly makes me think twice about blowing big bucks for a 10% (or less) improvement.  

But it is sad to think that HEA is a dying hobby, that is dying with us.

moto_man,

Do not get disappointed if your attempt to instill appreciation for better sound does not work out to be all that you hoped for. I did something similar, even downgraded along the way to make it simpler, and the outcome has been...iPhone speakers. With a little luck, your stepson may appreciate the sound of movies through his new set-up. Maybe you are more successful, but I am afraid...

@glupson, I take it all in stride.  Lead a horse to water but can't make him drink.  My stepson seemingly appreciates my HT setup, and definitely loved to hear some of my favorites, like Jimi Hendrix' Electric Ladyland, on my music system, so I remain optimistic!  What are kids of his generation willing to blow on HEA . . .? Remains to be seen.

moto_man,

From what I can see, kids ten years younger of his generation are not willing to spend anything on some audio equipment. Not even when given to them and installed in their room. No real interest there. They will not think twice about spending $1000 on a phone, though. This idea of "listening" to music is probably just some little short notch in the history. How long did it even last? Fifty years, maybe a little more? One generation or, at most, two. I am not talking all reproduction of music, but this idea of "finer" reproduction, whatever we decide to call it (hi-fi, HEA, anything else). As you said, it is dying with us.

If I may ask, how did you pick your moto_man name?