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


I’m a boomer myself and was wondering if any other listeners have knowledge or data on how much of a declining industry high end audio is in general? Or am I mistaken and it’s not dying off at all?

tubelvr11

Experts have been predicting the demise of Harley Davidson for 2 decades now because us boomers are dying off, but I would suggest it's more the result of a dwindling middle class than 'boomers' causing moderately expensive hobbies to fade away. 

@hilde45 I’m not sure I buy the attention span argument made in the article you referenced. I’m a member of r/kindle and from people’s self descriptions it is clear many younger people buy kindles to sit and focus on reading. Younger people sit and focus on binge watching episodes.

You're not sure you buy it -- ok. This is an empirical question about a wide range of behaviors over large populations. There are studies, and then there are anecdotes. If the interest in the answer to the question is scientific, the agreement on definitions and methods is primary; if the interest is just casual, then anecdotes are, however flimsy, sufficient.

When I compare what’s available now (streaming Quboz hi res files) compared to what I did in the 1970’s (vinyl over an Ariston RD11s with Grace 707 arm and a hsnd-picked Sonus Blue cartridge), it’s clear that NOW is the golden time! My Aurender N100H/Yggdrassil combo wipes the analog gear in sound quality. My Schiit Saga with an old Sylvania JAN 6SN7GT sounds better than my Audio Research SP6B and Marantz 7C preamps ever did. And the music selection now is so amazing, the old stuff more available than ever at higher resolution (think Grateful Dead Betty Boards!) as well as a ton of superb bands. I would put up Tedeschi Trucks (their version of Layla beats the original IMHO and FAR better recorded), Phish, Goose, etc etc against any 60’s band. I learn about new music from people decades younger than me, and revel in companies like Schiit who make such great products at low prices. 
 

Thus, I don’t lament. I just enjoy!

 

 

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@jallan 

I would put up Tedeschi Trucks (their version of Layla beats the original IMHO and FAR better recorded)

The original Layla album is indeed quite poor sounding. I'll never understand why Tom Dowd thought it was a good idea to record everyone in the same room. As to whether the T.Trucks version is better artistically, I don't agree with you.