Having a good "stereo setup" is no longer a goal for the majority. Few people these days I talk with, and none of the younger generation, have the goal of creating a high-end stereo system. Most don't even care about decent surround sound for movies. Most actually cannot even understand why I have spent so much money on speakers and components over the years. I get the impression that all that matters to the younger folks is how much it cost, and how loud it goes. The topic of accurate sound only comes up from the delusional fans of vinyl that just like to repeat fallacies about how great vinyl is, yet they then show you a turntable that is part of an all-in-one system with speakers and amp all built into a cheap cabinet and sold at WalMart. :-) They just don't get it that even if their source material was good, they have no capability to hear the detail. As long as the music is audible they just don't care. Stereo and audio shops have an almost impossible mission. Most I know of including my McIntosh dealer are specializing mostly in system install work for high end homes and business, and do not have much of a showroom presence, or gear in stock. It's a pretty dead retail niche unless you plan to have more for sale than high end stereo gear. Honestly Best Buy is one of the only retail stores in the area that has a selection of various audio gear and much of it has to still be special ordered as all that is in stock are the displays. It's not just about the internet and online sales, it's a change in perspective, a paradigm shift of sorts. We no longer need to go and listen as the goal for over 60 years has been for the top manufacturers to produce a neutral sound. There is no real need any longer to "match" specific components to get an acceptable sound across the system, even though we hear audio geeks argue about it. It might or might not be true but the people who care about the slight difference in sound are not the majority, rather a very tiny minority. The general public of the last few generations has a completely different view of what matters. A few decades ago every teenage boy wanted to have a stack of stereo components. That is now insane to most who play their MP3 files on a portable Bluetooth linked speaker and have no idea why that is not HiFi :-) They don't care, and never will. They are the future.
What happened to all the highend stereo shops
What happened to high end stereo shops I mean real high-end stereo shops. I am 78, my father bought me my first stereo when I was 12, I have been hooked ever since. I remember the days when you can go to a nice audio store and not just audition what they had in the store but if you saw a couple of tuners, preamps or some cables that you liked, you could give them a blank check and take the equipment home to audition on your system. Bring one or both back Pay for what you want to keep or get your check back. I don’t understand how someone can buy an expensive piece of audio equipment and not audition it in their system first. Many places today, you buy it and your stuck with it. OH yes you can sell it on Audiogon or eBay. Reviewers are nice and give good reviews but the problem I have is the equipment they are auditioning is on their system in their treated music room which is going to be different than what you have.
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- 126 posts total
- 126 posts total