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

@ghasley  — I agree. The challenge of putting together a great audio system with little money is SO easy today compared to earlier. Especially with used stuff and a little knowledge. I agree with your posit.

Here's my posit: there is a level of sustained attention required for audio listening. That is why the gear matters. The more distraction there is, the less people engage in sustained attention. That's why audiophiles are a vanishing breed. Distraction will win and attention will lose — and you won't need expensive gear for the distractions. 

@roadcykler 

Who cares? Enjoy the music via whatever format you have.

I still don't get why people who think a thread is worthless take the time to sound off. I mean, don't they have a closet to go in and yell? Or a dog to kick?

Please don't answer me. I don't care.

Source quality, for the listener, has never been better. Streaming pretty much makes CD quality ubiquitous and many systems are capable of delivering more. Analog is there for those who have or are curious to try those media. Considering the source  limitations of a generation ago, a worldwide streaming capability at CD quality was unthinkable at a consumer level. Even in analog, the equipment selection is an order of magnitude greater than when I bought my first (modest, college student) turntable. The web has delivered a range of gear no brick and mortar-based market ever could. Asia has become an innovative and increasingly prosperous market for every kind of gear which in turn has made many new products available for very reasonable prices everywhere.  These are the best of times in audio.

 

97 posts

06-22-2024 at 01:05pm 

Who cares? Enjoy the music via whatever format you have. The kid (me) going to sleep with an AM radio under his pillow liked what he was hearing just as much as the adult (still me) does hearing it via a pretty good system.
 

@roadcykler 

Great post. I can really relate.

@rok2id You are right The high end is rather, uh, high-priced. The NYT noted a system at an audio show in 1975 that cost over 6 grand, and noted that the entry point for audiophile listening had crossed the Rubicon of 2 grand. In 2023 dollars, that would be nearly 35000 for high end and close to 12 grand for entry tier gear. That is pretty much the same as today. But in other electronic segments, from televisions to tablets, prices have dropped with innovation. I agree with some here that the ultra high end systems, costing 75-100K plus get outsized attention at shows, just like the Lamborghinis and Rolls Royces at car shows, but that is bling culture at work.

Two forces are churning. Income inequality has produced a larger class of multimillion- and billionaires for whom price is no object. But, even though the more-money-than-sense crowd is bigger than ever, the thick end of that market, the nouveau riche, is interested in installing a movie theater in their house, not a concert hall. The vast majority of sales of the top spec'd equipment is to enthusiasts, who are stretching every dollar because they are obsessed with ultimate sound. No doubt, the internet has made it easier for ambitious engineers to connect with those serious audiophiles, and niche markets command premium prices.

What amazes me is how many smart gear designers charge prices that are not low, but nowhere near premium priced, heavily advertised and reviewed brands. I recently auditioned an amplifier pair that is easily as good as any I have ever heard. In the designer's house, no less. The price is at the very top end of what I can save for, but a third of what it would cost from the top nameplates.  Like a fine restaurant, they build to order.

@simao I would agree with you that convenience is more valued than fidelity, but there is nothing really different about the current generation, as @roadcykler pointed out. I listened to FM (and AM) on lo fi car radios and table top sets and "transistors," and listened to records on my family's console hi fi when I was a teen. As I began to develop more appreciation for the music, and production became more sophisticated, I climbed the audiophile ladder.

Nowadays, the kids enter music via MP3s, "curated" stations, wretched earbuds, and yes, the radio, which is still the dominant way that people get their music fix. It's no worse, in many ways better, than what I had. And a small but significant number will graduate to better sound.

It reminds me, as a photographer, of when people complain the cell phone is killing cameras, even photography itself. Over my lifetime, and before, it was claimed that the Brownie, the Instamatic, the point and shoot, and even the original 35 mm film camera were going to overshadow serious photography. They are all gone or dwindling, and the stand alone dedicated camera chugs on. There have always been lots of snapshots, and a lot of very enjoyable listening of not the highest fidelity, and there is nothing wrong with either, but in the end, they have little effect on the serious enthusiast's experience.