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Is this the end of HEA?

http://www.cepro.com/article/is_this_the_end_of_high_performance_audio_at_ces

This last year has made my ears perk up. Honestly I didn't even know the article above had been written until now. What I did know was listeners have been in touch with me about the future of HEA and their future as advanced listeners. It's been nice to see folks getting in touch with me and even nicer that they are doing so because they wish to settle into their final system sound. To say things in their words "it's been an expensive ride" and most of these folks aren't sure they've gotten a fair shake always from the hobby. Many feel they have bank rolled a part of a hobby that hasn't always delivered the goods. Basically instead of telling listeners that this is a variable hobby the "experts" pushed a very expensive game of component Plug & Play onto the discrete audio generation. I remember those days of guilt buying where a dollar amount was used as a representative for quality, when it meant no such thing. I knew first hand this was not the case as designers scrambled to make up-sell products that sounded less musical than the original products that put their name in audio fame. I also could see the HEA decline happening but still was giving the benefit of the doubt to those saying HEA was just fine and growing. Mom and pop stores for the most part have vanished in the US with the exception of a few creative thinkers. New expensive products are being adored but I don't see many actually buying them. Now I've got my eye on T.H.E. Show (Richard's show) and wondering if it's happening or not. Richard and I have talked many times about what will happen to HEA in the US if T.H.E. Show and CES cease doing their thing in Vegas. I wonder what Richard RIP is thinking now sitting in the clouds.

I am very excited to see the next few years come about even though I know some are still buying into the old paradigm that the HEA is the cutting edge with only a volume control to adjust and a fork lift included with every purchase. Going to the CES web, I have my answer for Vegas. Going to T.H.E. Show website I'm still in question. If these two are no more, in terms of HEA, who's next?

Michael Green

128x128michaelgreenaudio
glupson
7,842 posts
 

Michael Green may be right. It is shifting.


"Higher price to lower price"

It is not that the price is substantially lower, it is that advancements in technology made same quality available at lower price. Of course, there could be a debate if iPhone is really lower price (they seem to go up in price with every generation).

Higher mass to lower mass

Most of the people got used to having it all and having it small, in their pockets, thanks to advancements in technology

"Higher heat to lower heat"

Advancements in technology and nothing else.

"More crossover parts to fewer."

Almost everything electronic has fewer parts these days, when compared to the same functionality in the past. Advancements in technology.

"Fixed sound to variable sound"

Sound modes have been available on receivers etc. for a few decades now. With advancements in technology and science, it is possible to have variable sound on new smaller devices.

"One volume control to more control."

Advancements in technology made it simpler to add controls of whatever kind we desire.

"Harder to drive to easier to drive."

Advancements in technology provide for more diverse combinations.

"Playing less to able to play more."

Advancements in technology allow us to listen to distant radio stations/Internet and explore what was impossible before.


All in all, the paradigm is shifting and majority is moving away from bulky, seemingly built complicated, equipment. However, it is not because they read through the HEA conspiracy and do not want to be fooled anymore. It is because advancements in technology made things possible that could not be achieved in the past and people like convenience.


orpheus10
8,668 posts
 

Glupson, Old HEA dogs don't learn new tricks like what you and Michael are discussing, they just retire to the bone yard, leaving a vacuum. These new products are for new people; there is no HEA continuity.
justanotherhifiguy
17 posts
 
I dont think high end audio is going to go away. The pricing is just going to get worse. I expect in 10 years time things will be even more expensive. 
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 

Right now, people are complaining because nothing (relatively) is being sold; that's because there are fewer people who desire HEW products that can afford them; they're in the boneyard.

If you have been observant, you'll realize that the people who inherit these HEA items, are in a quandary as to what to do with them.
acman3
4,269 posts
 
What do we care what they do with them?  Make a planter out of my speakers. We are on to other things. 

Also, I think the main problem is the cost, at this time. Even used prices are above a sensible man's level of comfort. A secondary problem is customer base croaking, but getting more severe in next decade as posters and buyers on this site go silent, or enter headphone days as others take control of us.
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