Where are the young audiophiles?

I am 72 and bought my first separates system in 1969.  It consisted of a Sansui amp, Sansui tuner, (matched 555s), Dual 1019 turntable and Sansui Sp-100 speakers.  I added an AKAI R2R.  The cost was about $800 for all of it.

I am not sure my current system pleases me any more as I went from a cheap all in one ( what I call a grind o magic ) to what was a decent system.

If I was 21 again, I suspect I would be streaming music via a Mac Mini and using a class D amp and XYZ speakers and be just as happy as I was then.   O I g up the ladder today require funds beyond most people in their early 20s.

I know loads of young people into audio. Loads.

I have 4 kids.  All of them love music ... multiple genres not just rap or pop.Only one (age 16) is an audiophile.  One is a musician (age 19) lots of her work is on Spotify.  Music to her is about creating it and listening for learning about lyrics etc so she can make more and better music.  She is happy with her JBL Bluetooth speaker and iPhone. The other two (21 and 23) find it incomprehensible that you would sit still and listen to music.  With them music follows them into the gym, in the car, parties etc.  I do find it interesting that many in Hollywood have serious audiophile systems ... most are at best middle aged.  Maybe the days of expensive high end electronics will come to a close soon.  The good news is that the world of music is alive and well

I’m pretty young (well relative to the prevailing crowd here, not to the pickup basketball games I try in vain to keep up with....sigh)) but for the older gents here, at the Hi-Fi height, let’s say 1970’s, what percentage of middle class households had what we would consider a hi-end system?

10%? 20%? More?

By hi-end system I guess I mean something you’d get from a Hi-Fi store, not just a Best Buy receiver

This has been said for decades. In the 1970s, the adage was "Hi-End Audio is not developed yet. It will not survive".

In the 80s, it was "Hi-End is too trendy--like disco was".

Today, Hi-End is "social injustice and supremacist because it mandates a standard of excellence".

There will always be reasons to trample on it. And there will always be reasons to seek it out and procure it. In short, the market will always be there. It is simply a matter tapping into it.