After fifty years… amazing. What high end audio can be.

@whart I agree with you regarding the younger generation and their music, gear, etc. Us older folks had to 'shop' for music back in the day and we had more access to hifi shops (at least here in VA). It took effort to go out and hunt down import vinyl (or CDs) and we had fun doing it. Gear was less expensive and easier to obtain back then. Today---easy streaming, and no access to affordable gear has left the younger folks with Beats headphones and desk top speakers. 

I have a couple of friends in their 20s (from another hobby) and they love my system and one has started working on building a system. He loves vinyl too---I got him a Kraftwerk album for Christmas! It's a shame that the current record stores don't showcase or offer mid-priced, quality gear for blooming audiophiles. 

whart

I wonder if we are the last of a generation that grew up with hi-fi and made it an important part of our lives ... It just doesn't seem to be a priority to some of the younger generation ... I'm not lamenting the loss of the good old days, but I see the changes ... I'm also a geezer and I'm struck by how our world has changed and will continue to change.

Music and media were completely different when we were young, @whart, and were much less fragmented. As a result, a generation could largely define itself through its music which, at the time, often had powerful social messages. That made music a central element of many people's lives and the stereo system was obviously part of that.

Consider this: As late as into the mid-70s, consumer research (in the US) showed the second major purchase contemplated by newlyweds was a stereo system. The Number One primary purchase was a bed.

Yup, "our world has changed." But for many of us, we will always cherish our stereo systems.

Thanks for the responses-

@cleeds - nice catch on the old data.

@whart

To add some evidence to support your hypothesis… ham radio. Back in the 50’s and 60’s there were the adult nerds with huge antennas sticking up from their houses (modest homes). The talked to people all over the world… other ham operators via short wave. It was at the forefront of hobbies… and was really important communications durin WW2. They are gone… come on, any left would have been killed with the internet.

On the other hand, high end audio is about music. Music is about as fundamentally human thing that is non-essential to survival and continuation of the species. This has never been a “popular” pursuit… it probably never will… but I don’t think it will be going away in the next generation or two. 

@ghdprentice - interesting point re ham radio. Yes, agreed, listening won't go away, music won't go away. How we listen- via the types of gear, I think may change- in some ways, it already has- the headphone listeners, the streaming (which I know you are on board with using the big Aurender). I do think we came up in a golden age of hi-fi, from the post-war boom and all that came with that. 

If somebody asked me for advice on a starter system today, I'm not sure what I'd tell them. I doubt I would encourage them to go into vinyl. 

Thanks for the kind response- I certainly didn't mean to be negative. I do think we have it good right now. Lee from TAS posted on another forum that there was a large audience of young people at the Warsaw show. I don't know what those markets are like- I guess my comments have to be limited to my experience in the States.

Bill