What’s really hurting the audio hobby?


Maybe it’s the audio dealer experience? Where else can newbies go to get started in this hobby. Isn't that where most of you got hooked?  Let me describe my latest visit to an audio store nearby. I won’t use the store name here, as that’s not the point.  Where I live there is really only one audio store left. That’s strange because I live in a very wealthy community. The Friday after Independence day, me and a friend went to this local audio store.  First time back there in years. We are both looking to upgrade. They have 3 audio rooms and two home theater rooms. The hi-end audio room (the store’s term) was an impressive room with extensive acoustic treatments. Mostly McIntosh gear. Sitting in the listening chair, you are looking at 600 watt Mac monoblocks running some nice tower speakers. A massive JL Audio Gotham subwoofer unit sat front and center facing the only listening chair. The McIntosh turntable was spun first. Sloooowww. It took my friend less than five seconds to point out the TT was running slow. The salesman had started to play Pink Floyd-Wish You Were Here, and it was noticeably slow. So the salesman flipped the switch to 45 rpm. Yes, that happened. He figured out it was too fast all on his own. Fiddle and poke at the TT for a bit and then the salesman said- "I’ll let them know it’s broke". Then he said he would just stream some music from a server. Bass! All you could hear was bass, and NOT good bass. He turned the subs down a little when asked, but all you could hear was tubby, muddy bass. The big tower speakers were overpowered by the sub.  I really wanted to hear what the main speakers alone sounded like, but could not get the salesman to shut off the subs.  On to the mid-fi room (the store’s term). The salesman tried to play us two different turntables. Neither turntable worked. One would not power up, and one was not hooked up to a system at all. Let me point out we didn’t care what source they used. I did say we both run analog and digital sources. Nothing interesting in the mid-fi room the first time through. Next room (no name) was a wall of bookshelf and small towers run by a wide selection of integrated amps. Not bad sound from some. Again, we were told this is “streaming quality audio”. This was the third time he mentioned we were listening to streaming quality audio. I took a guess at what that meant and asked if we could hear higher quality audio. So he took us back to the mid-fi room. He popped in a CD.I could not tell what CD equipment was being used. I think a Rotel integrated was selected. Everything in the cabinet was black faced behind dark glass. Not sure what CD it was either, but since he only had one, I let it go.

Big change! The Paradigm towers were now making good sounds. A big difference from his “streaming quality” demo. Next we switched to a pair of GE Triton 1s. I seriously might get a pair! They make nice sounds. By far the best thing we heard. There was more that happened that contributed to a poor experience, but I will move on.

Here is my point- What would anyone new to the hobby think of that experience? It took two seasoned audio guys pushing the salesman for over an hour before he played anything worth listening to. Would you buy anything from this place. Would you send a newbie in there? Let me know if I'm off base in thinking these audio stores are killing themselves off by the way they do business. Or is it just my misfortune that I have not been in a good dealer showroom in years?

vinylfan62
@maguiar


Really? Nothing has changed, only the definition of "good oldies". When I was a kid, commercials were using Perry Como and Joe DiMaggio to hawk their goods. Edward R. Murrow smoked on air as did Carson and everyone else. Harry James was held out as the ultimate trumpet player even though Miles and Lee Morgan were considerably more important not to mention Clark Terry was technically superior to them all from a proficiency standpoint.

Commercials and film always dig deeper to find tracks that evoke memories from their target market. The "Summer of '42" wasn't made in '42. The pharmas are the worst, I hit mute on the TV when a drug commercial comes on since I know they will butcher an Earth, Wind and Fire's "Let's Groove" or Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" with new lyrics. 40 year old tracks. You still hear Glen Miller music on some commercials. Hip hop sampled Aerosmith...music evolves. One generation of music may be more relevant to you but it doesn't make it more relevant in general terms. Another reason certain tracks get repeated over and over in TV and Film is due to who owns the copyright. That's another discussion for another day (Motown especially).

People lament that bricks and mortar are all but gone but selection was limited to maybe 4 or 5 major brands across the 2 or 3 stores the average town might have that you MIGHT be able to call audiophile.  The DIY/mail order was available in the backs of magazines which is where the real innovation was ocurring. We might extrapolate that the DIY/mail order side of things is actually how we have evolved...consumer direct has grown and retail has contracted. @elizabeth mentioned earlier in the thread that she got hooked on music through the classical music she received in the mail. Now its all streamed and widely available instantly but there are still people getting hooked on good music.


In short, arrogance and overconfidence are what kills any "hobby" but there are always arrogant people in every hobby. When people point that a hobby is dying, it is usually just changing in a way they can't control. When I was young and hot rods were all the rage, the person who could tune a car (with multiple carbs) with the proper fuel to air ratios given certain readings for humidity/barometric pressure ruled the drag strip. Its done today with computer software downloaded to the car, variable valve timing, etc, etc.

Just because people today don't consume their "hobbies" in the same way doesn't mean a particular hobby is dying, it just means its changing.
If a younger, aspiring and potential, audiophile turned away from their iPhone or take-anywhere music setup and got into vinyl, how much money would they have to spend? The truth is that the ultra uber expensive boxes of wires (aka expensive audio equipment) is out of their reach. What is killing audio is the high cost of equipment. Yeah, the kids can get mid-fi and probably spend $3k, but to get to hi-fi they have to spend much more. Practically speaking, smarter kids are buying things they need. Cars, an education and a home. They are not spending $50k on an audio system. Heck many people here have over $50k in audio equipment. At some point it becomes a rich man/women’s hobby.
When I was younger I was not able to afford any album or disk. I had to rationalize a purchase so that limited the amount of music I heard. Today, those albums and disks that I did not buy I can hear in entirely and I am happy to learn some of those that I skipped (due to costs) are actually classics. Better late than never. Today, any young person can hear almost anything ever recorded in the last 75 years for relatively low cost.

I hardly spend any time watching TV now, it is just work with music on (home office) and listen to music once my kid is in bed. The more music I listened to the greater my desire to hear it on good equipment. The music came first for me then the system. I think a lot of young folks will follow a similar path as me. I already see this with the young guns that work in my current work project.

I think audio is in for a good long run.