Why Don't More People Love Audio?

Docwarnock, I agree - HT as a phenomena exists because of the classic marketing of creating a solution to a problem that didn't necessarily exist. Show people something cool, and sell them on how there life would be better if they owned one, and they'll want one / buy one. It's all been done very successfully.

To give you my answer to your question in your final paragraph, I think the lack of innovation in the high-end is based on a failure by the high-end in general to recreate (redefine) itself. Read any book on successful companies in today's economy, and they'll stress the need to be constantly recreating yourself, constantly making obsolete old concepts / products and creating the new. Recognize the next "wave", that time when things have undoubtedly and irrevocably changed and that you need to change or die (or, in this case, become extremely niche). The changes are there, and have been occurring for at least a decade, in how home electronics are used for entertainment, how music and movies are "consumed", but the high-end still has many of the same mantras and, in general, rejects most of the new.

Mind you, I have no problem with the high-end staying true to the course - I just am not surprised that fewer people are signing on, and that high-end manufacturers are experiencing lack of growth or worse. I think you're exactly right - innovate in a way that gets people to say "Whoa!!!! Cool!" and they'd decide they had to have one. Better yet, put it on display where a large number of people might actually see it / hear it, and you might really attract people (Out of every 100 people I know, I'd venture that fewer than five have even been in a high-end audio store). In other words, put quality audio sound in products that more people might experience and desire, and there's a great likelihood that people would come to appreciate it more.

Those of us interested in high-end do say "Whoa!!!! Cool!" on a regular basis. However, for the most part, the things that make us say this are not appreciated by the common audio consumer, e.g. soundstaging, accuracy, "you are there" reproduction.

Should we once again pander to the least common denominator? The average joe is almost always impressed by Bose's sizzle and boom. Should that be the sound for which struggling high-end manufacturers ought to be reaching? Many of us already have better sound quality than 99% of people have heard and yet the biggest question I get from non-knowing visitors is "How loud does it go?" If the HE manufacturers innovate to give even more realistic sound, will anyone other than us care?

Kthomas, you must live in an enlightened community because I would venture the number to be about 1 in 1000 that have been in a HE store.

I was going to say 1 in a 1000 but thought it might sound overly emphatic, despite the fact that it seems about right. It's probably slightly higher than that if you include the people I've drug in to one.

I'm not suggesting a need to pander, and certainly not suggesting a desire to court the LCD. What I'm suggesting is that to get more people to love quality audio reproduction is going to take a different approach than that which is currently offered by those who love it the most. I think a vast number of people, plopped down in front of an excellent system, can hear and, at least intellectually, appreciate the quality of the sound reproduction. But the time and $$ required to acquire it for themselves, and the education that leads to a set of reasoning that would justify such a purchase in their mind are all obstacles. Just take time for instance - very few people have the patience to sit and listen to even a couple of songs if that's all they're doing. I'm speaking from the experience of showing off my system to friends - no later than 1/2 way through the second song, they're talking, standing up, moving around.

So, if the question of "Why don't more people love audio" is meant to mean, "Why don't more people want good-quality, audio reproduction to pursue as a goal in and of itself, along with listening as a pursuit of it's own", then I think the answers about short attention span, changing culture, etc. work pretty well. But if the question is actually intended to say, "Why are people satisfied with Bose when they could have so much better for the same price or just a reasonable amount more," then I think it's because the obstacles of places to experience it and educate oneself, the lack of high-end innovation to accomodate this market segments "needs" (ie, not having the right products), and the distance the current high-end holds itself from this potential market are the reasons.

I have to disagree on your last statement. Almost nobody that listens to my system has ANY clue as to how much time and money it took to get it to sound as good as it does (IMHO). Although they almost all ask how much it costs, very few ask me where they could buy a similar system even if I don't tell them how much it costs. Mark Levinson's new gig (Red Rose) offers all in one packaged solutions. I doubt he will sell significantly more than other HE dealers selling the stuff under his name.

I do agree however with your and others assertions that the current cultural bias against listening as an end is what holds HE back.

kthomas sez:

"HT as a phenomena exists because of the classic marketing of creating a solution to a problem that didn't necessarily exist. Show people something cool, and sell them on how there life would be better if they owned one, and they'll want one / buy one. It's all been done very successfully.">>>
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i must humbly beg to disagree. 12 years ago, when i lived yust south of hartford, ct, i couldn't figure out why, w/the exception of new haven, ct was such a dead place socially - especially hartford. then, one friday evening, around dinner-time, a neighbor asked me to drop off a video at a store near where i was going grocery shopping. well, i'm not into video now, certainly wasn't then. this was my 1st time in a place like this. ya couldn't get *near* the place - it was *packed*! in a nutshell, i figured it out. america loves movies, america loves to watch 'em at home even more than at the theatre. the marketing here is a no-brainer - get the sound in the home as good - or better - than that at the movies. most folks *will* go over to someone else's house to sit in front of a h-t set-up & watch a movie. not so w/audio. most folks couldn't give a rat's ass about listening to music, unless it's background, or they're alreddy occupied in some other manner - which is why car-stereo is so popular - yure stuck in the car, may as well pass the time listening to toons (instead of paying attention to driving?). i *rarely* listen to anything when driving, other than the engine. my daily-driver (90 mile commute) doesn't even have a radio in it. but, i'm in the minority - i like to sit in front of the stereo & listen to toons, i like to drive when i'm in the car, & i don't like to watch movies, at home or in the theatre.

as far as the hi-end goes, i don't really believe there were more folks interested in it 30 years ago as there are today - it's a lunatic-fringe kinda ting, always has been, always will be.

yust my opinion, of course! ;~) doug s.