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

@rcm1203

Audiophile listening isn't dying.  The music worth listening to is old, just like the audiophiles who listen to it. We are a dying breed of connoisseurs, soon to be extinct.

You seem like a fun dude to hang out with.

Equipment designers see that and are exploiting their dwindling market before it’s completely gone.

And you know this how?

It is the Source Device today that creates the growing market and defines the end user as to how they wish to participate in being entertained as a Audiophile ( Hearing Sound that they are enthusiastic / passionate about ).

There is one thing for sure today, the Source selected will not be parity in the performance it can offer to alternate options. Making each who selects one Source only limited in how they experience the end sound from music recordings. 

The user of the Source, whichever one,  will decide which supporting Electronics they would like to see in use downstream. Is an individual using a USB to attach a Phone to a DAC to listen to replays of stored music files, any less an audiophile that somebody with a Vinyl Source and a history of years of building a Album Collection ? 

Is the individual when using that same Phone to listen to music in a different environment using a completely different method to reproduce the music replay no longer an Audiophile ?

As stated previously, the broadness of the options on a Source, has created a opportunity to express an interest in using recorded music replays as a form of entertainment, that has been adopted by an incalculable amount of the Global Population. How to separate how many are Audiophile is a futile endeavor.

Much better to engage with the individuals using Portable Sources and learn from them. 

I have not tried out the Phone as a Source on my Home System, but at a HiFi Event heard a young individual presenting a home built DIY HiFI System with his Phone as the Source, from recollection this system was very likeable and worthwhile mentioning. I would class this young individual as Audiophile as anybody I spend time with around this hobby.    

The younger generations will have something way better (spatial audio, object based audio, etc) for way cheaper. After the boomers’ finite lifespan ends, the younger ones will be wondering why boomers hung onto their lackluster stereo for so long. Their purity stereo will be equated to a case of stupid.

macg19

What can I say? I'm a grumpy old man and getting grumpier every day! 

@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.

Yet for today’s young music consumers, even three minutes is too long to sit still and focus on just one thing. And since songs can’t get any shorter (without becoming ridiculous), multitasking is the only solution. Thus we have entered the “Multitask Generation,” whose membership feels the need to also be doing something else while listening to music.

That something else could be watching a related video, doing homework, playing an on-line game, or being on the go. Music alone no longer suffices. The rise of the Multitask Era also explains why so much music today is consumed on YouTube, which conveniently provides a choice of accompanying videos. Similarly, music award shows are no longer about the music but rather are about unique, attention-grabbing performances….

Now imagine a member of the current Multitask Generation buying a high-quality (not necessarily expensive) stereo system for the purpose of sitting in one spot and doing one thing for a relatively lengthy (by today’s standards) block of time. Not gonna happen. I don’t care how exposed this person has been to better-quality sound, this scenario simply does not fit the current short-attention-span, multitasking lifestyle.

So what is the high-end industry to do? First, it must understand that exposure to good sound is a necessary but not sufficient precursor to creating a new customer for traditional sound systems. High-end designers must pursue avenues that somehow address the attention-span issue.

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/the-attention-span-gap/