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

@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

ham radio.  ... They are gone… come on, any left would have been killed with the internet.

I have two in my neighborhood, and I live in a town of under 9,000. Other's I don't know have antenae.

As yet, after seven years, I've yet to find another audiophool such yhs.

I started in 1972 with Advents, Sansui 2000x, and Dual 1215S with Shure M91E, as a 15 year old paperboy. Upgraded constantly for 10 years, then sat mostly tight for 3 decades while raising kids and doing a career with lots of moves. Now, I have furiously revamped in the pandemic era with new speakers and electronics and streaming instead of vinyl. Back to rolling tubes, though the prices are a bit higher (wish I had kept my perfectly good Dutch Amperex and Telefunken tubes I threw away each year of retubing!). Never have I enjoyed my stereo more!

Let me join the crowd born in 1953 to say—happy 70th to all of us and many more years of happy listening! I too have spent years and $$$ to get to the system I have today and like GHDPrentice I don’t regret all the effort to arrive here. Now let’s all keep our hearing—as much as possible. Happy new year to all, both young and old!