Where are the young audiophiles?

As others noted, I think the key factors in what the mass of young people buy is cost and convenience.  Most don’t yet have high incomes and other purchases take priority.  Also, younger Americans were raised to have short attention spans and crave new stimulation.  They aren’t prone to following anything down a rabbit hole and prefer to use what is convenient and serves the purpose.  New music is here today and gone tomorrow — I don’t think young people now will long to hear again the tunes that are currently popular . . not as oldsters today still savor Steely Dan, Alman Brothers or Linda Ronstadt.  They want things to go.

If no one mentioned it, YouTube channels Zero fidelity, Thomas, and Jay who are all under 40 (I think) and appear to have lots of younger viewers.  
Sure there is tons of very pricey gear today, but the flip side is that technology has advanced and there are lots good sounding gear way under $1000.

It is true the pandemic has catapulted the business. My audio guy has been in business for over twenty years and has never seen this level of demand. So, this will probably have created a bunch of new enthusiasts. And music never goes out of fashion... so it will not go away.

I think over forty is the age when you appreciate quality things more and better SQ is one of them....you just feel that time is running and you don’t want to miss something good... so youngsters will catch up later....now they have other priorities in their mind. 

I have a realtor who sends me MLS listings in our area so we can track the approximate value of our home.  Over the past 3 years I have yet to see a pair of stereo speakers pictured in any room of their house.  I will see $5,000 entertainment cabinet with a wide screen TV and they are listening to the TV speakers.

Based on this, there aren't many audiophiles period.  You would think retailers would be doing some direct mail advertising to affluent areas to spark interest.  Based on this, I don't know how retailers even exist.  I would think manufactures would help them to advertise their businesses and sound systems as a new platform for entertainment.