Why Don't More People Love Audio?

there are many things competing for our attention and interest. we are bombarded every day by all kinds of stimuli.

the priority of listening to music characterized by "sonic excellence" , probably is not cogent for most people, who prefer to listen to music in the background mode.

mpst people have no interest in listening to music as an exclusive activity.

the computer and the tv set are more compelling .

I don't know that it's so much a case of not many people liking high quality audio as how many people actually like music to any degree. I am now 50+ and since leaving my teens have met very few people who really like music as we know it. You can forget the charts and the people who used to populate them, most of them (in my experience) only bought the odd single - the charts were simply made up by millions of occasional purchases. You could go to any of my friends houses, once they had reached adulthood and all it's inherent trappings and other distractions and the best you'd ever find there would be one of those little stacking systems. Their collection would perhaps be up to 30 CDs, often "Best ofs" and hits albums.

I would posit then that it's real music enthusiasts that are in the minority - the audio factor is then a small proportion of that minuscule figure.

When I grew up getting a "stereo" was part and parcel of the journey and considered the norm. Now kids have far too many distractions - gaming being the most obvious and prevalent. Having music is now considered a small element of life, taking its place alongside games, mobile technology PCs etc etc. For most people who know no other ethos, the quality of music is immaterial - it seems enough to have music wherever and whenever. Now I like music in the car but have no desire to have it elsewhere. My listening at home is split between via the PC, when I am working, or "proper" listening on the main system. The latter is the most important to me, as is it's high quality but that's not to say that other listening is devalued. I just need my hi-def fix.

Sorry, Onhwy61, what you talk of is NOT plug and play. Yes, manufacturers make all the main bits, which harmonise visually and hopefully sound wise, but they do NOT come as a complete package.

I am talking here of the Ikea experience: you walk in, say, "I want one of those please", have one, two, three, etc cartons to take home or be delivered. Open the boxes, everything is there, and I mean EVERYTHING, all the appropriate quality cables, stands, the funny bits that get it to work WELL, with simple, exceedingly clear instructions on how to hook it together, and especially all the little tips and techniques for getting the best out of it. If the dealer has to do it, then people will say, "how much of the price of my system is the paying of this fellow to do this?"

Buy a luxury car, you go to the showroom, dealer points out a few things, hands you the keys and you drive off. Buy a top notch HDTV, you put it on a stand or table, plug in power cord and aerial, kick off a totally automated setup and it shows pretty pictures. Both items just WORK with no fuss at all and that's what counts.

Remember, the question is "Why Don't MORE(!!) People Love Audio?". Why, because it is all too complicated! People have mental breakdowns getting a cheap and nasty home theatre box working, after all ... :-)

Frank

Frank - Very few people ever get to the point of finding audio complicated because they lack the motivation to find audio.

I don't know if I can type slowly enough for all of you obstinate audio freaks to get it but the harsh reality is this:

We are oddballs - eccentrics - what we find irresistible is of no interest whatsoever to the vast majority of our fellow citizens. Just accept that. There is no magic solution to this non-problem.

To be totally argumentative, Ikea is RTA which is at the other end of the sofa from plug in and play. Also modern luxury cars require fairly detailed instruction before you can safely operate them and you cannot maintain them without dealer assistance.