Where are the young audiophiles?

I have found that the under 40 folks just do not get excited about high end audio or the hobby as to many of them they consider it boring to sit down with the purpose of just listening. I have a nephew who is in his late 30’s, and while he likes my set up and thinks it sounds excellent, he is not into all the expense and time it takes to build a system. He does have a 70’s era receiver and turn table, but it’s not his hobby.

As a kid I attribute my fondness to audio growing up in the 70’s with an uncle who had a huge Pioneer receiver, Teac R2R, plus a great turn table all going into a pair of Pioneer HPM 100’s. He played all sorts of music and to me I thought it was the most incredible stereo I had ever heard. Was it really an “audiophile” system? No, but at that time you had to seek out a place that carried the any of the high end brands that we all know. I remember going in a high end dealer with my father just to see what they had. It certainly didn’t look like any of the many stereo shops I had visited in the past. But I also remember the snobby attitude there. 

As far as high end dealers go today, I feel that good dealers offer something for everyone who is wanting to appreciate the finer gear. I live in Atlanta and the two dealers I have purchased most everything from are not in the least snobby and welcome first time buyers . While both places carry some stuff that goes into the 200-300k range, and have rooms set up for those, they also carry a ton of equipment for the folks who aspire to buy what they can afford with the intention of upgrading down the line. The cool thing is a lot of the brands that they offer as entry are still better and different than your average Best Buy, or even the Magnolia boutique. Plus, they are far more knowledgeable than the average salesperson because they are into the hobby as well. The thing I like the most is, they want you to bring in your own album’s & CD’s as well as handing you a iPad with Tidal or Qubuz so you can enjoy your music, not just what super audiophile pressing they are playing to show off the system. 

After the last 12 years since I got into higher end audio, I have to say, had it not been for these great shops, I would of been put off with the hobby as I could never just order a piece of gear on line without hearing it, and I don’t buy because of what reviews say. Great topic BTW. 

@jond As someone who has worked for and with some of the most "reputable" firms out there I have come to the conclusion that there are simply very, very few individuals, let alone dealers, who actually know what they are doing when it comes to this stuff. If you have found someone who does, and they are out there, stick with them and support what they do. However I would humbly suggest it's likely that you've found an individual, and not an entire dealer (unless they happen to be the business owner) that happens to give a crap about what they do, and you've had a good experience as a result.

While I don't think the hobby is completely dead, my experience of the majority of the people involved in making the money and selling the products at the end of the day is that most of them have absolutely no real drive or passion when it comes to exposing more people to high quality music and film playback. I mean I've seen dealers tell manufacturers the reason they're not selling more product is because the manufacturer doesn't advertise enough or have enough reviews in publications. 

And people wonder why young people aren't interested in this category. If that is the attitude you have when you represent product lines that are capable of changing the lives of your clients, you're probably not going to bring in too many new clients or run into any new and challenging situations. 

Look at the bright side. We got Class A. They got crap!

IMHO the on of reasons is -
The record quality of modern pop music, which most of young people like to listen, is very bad.
Basically this music recorder for listening on boombox and car audio.

@ironlung - sorry you are down on the industry, disillusioned and miserable. Most of the stores I see out there are exactly what you say you need to find; someone who knows what they are doing and gives a s**t. They are the owners of the typically higher end stores who might have an assistant or two, but the owners negotiate the prices. If those guys are what you say they are, they wouldn't be in business. Most of them have been around a LONG time, some 40+ years. They don't need the money anymore, and the ones that are gone from the business are the ones who weren't as passionate about it as their competitors. I don't know what you mean by an "entire dealer".

The multi-location stereo chains are a rarity, other than Best Buy's Magnolia, which used to be a chain. They are more a home automation and video business/installation service that happens to carry audio, which takes up a lot of their space, and probably is a money loser. I think in all of metro Phila there is one multi store chain that I have never been in - they are lower end and focus a great deal on video and installations. Nobody there knows anything about a turntable, and I'd be scared to have them install a cartridge for me.

Younger people don't have much money, and they were raised on iPhones and iPods. As they get older, they will spend more on audio, but most will not have the passion because they never really were interested growing up. There is however a growing group of hipsters that think turntables are cool. Hopefully, they can make some money and maybe will actually be interested in great sounding audio to keep the industry strong, not just the coolness factor because some demographic chasing talk show host has a turntable in the background on their set (the pompous hipster doofus wannabe Steve Colbert). I don't think anyone thinks being an audiophile is cool.