Is the idea of audiophile listening a dying concept as boomers die off?

It is a changing landscape. I'm 65 and enjoy my stereo system and speakers. My nephew is into jam bands (Goose, Grateful Dead, Phish, Widespread Panic, Spafford) and enjoys listening to albums and recorded shows, but he mainly listens through a headphone stack, not speakers.  He has a decent 2.1 system in his living room but it is used 95% of the time for movies, not music. 

Going forward, I can see cellphones having better DACs and Bluetooth becoming lossless to CD quality earbuds and headphones being the "go to" listening devices for the next generations. 

Some will "back into" stereo listening via setting up a home theater system. 

I'm happy to have come of age in the 1970s and will forever love listening via speakers most of the time. 

I always thought boomers were the greatest generation being born of parents who fought in WWII and all that went with that. Turns out you can add audiophilia as well as one of the defining qualities. 😄

Snark aside, the same questions were asked when digital watches came out as many foresaw the demise of mechanical watches. I'm still laughing at that one.

All the best,
Nonoise

I don't believe the demand for high quality audio equipment will go to zero, but like horse racing, another passion of mine, it seems to have less appeal for younger generations. Some of this relates to financial matters obviously, but I think it goes beyond that. Music is more portable than its ever been even though portable music is generally far below high quality. That appeals to the younger folks as it suits their lifestyle and their incredible dependence on cell phones. Not much interest in what we would call critical listening, or in making the investment most of us have made.

My daughters-both in their 30s-love music and I have the iTunes receipts to prove it. They cannot understand, however, my affinity for sitting still for 2--3 hours at a time listening to music. They are perfectly content with Spotify and AirPods

Maybe this will change as technology improves. Eventually, portable music will be delivered at a quality that is unavailable now-might make a difference. 

Music and gear to record and reproduce it will always be a huge market. No need for concern. 

Audiophiles are born by hearing music on a system of someone who has better equipment than he has. We are certainly no longer in the era of audio stores on every street corner, but so long as there's a saving remnant there's no reason why things might not turn around. It's the height of foolishness to think that the latest turn is the last one. One phenomenon that bucks the trend is the renaissance in headphones caused by computer gaming and portable devices. Sort of like dinosaurs evolving into birds but it is a move in a particular direction.