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

Audiophiles skew older because older people have money. Ever been to a golf club and seen a ton of 25 year olds? Me neither. That is because 25 year olds don't have the money to join golf clubs. 

I think the high end audio industry is unknown to the general public.  I spent over 22 years in the service and came across a huge number of people and yet met zero audiophiles.  Come to think of it, even after I retired I’ve come across zero audiophiles.  The only exception has been when I either sold or bought gear locally, in person.  
 

I think high end audio has always been, and will continue to be, a very niche industry.  


 

 

It’s one thing if one is alone and laziness wins out and they go, “aw, hell, I want to hear this song right now, screw it” and then plays it through their cell phone speaker. Treating a cell phone speaker this way in public, to my mind and ears, borders on sociopathy.
The evidence is in and it ain’t good; young people the last decade or so have been subject to this as normal and have been led to believe that this is a way to “listen to music.”  
These are the parameters; cell-phone (acceptable, not ideal) —> tiny Bluetooth speaker (end-game).  
How could younger people possibly afford the high-end stuff these days?  
I told a younger fella I used to chat up at a record store I used to frequent about my rig.  
He seemed almost disgusted at the retail value of my rig, like he questioned my sanity and judgment. I don’t blame him.
Space is also an issue with such horrible housing circumstances these days.  
If space were permitted, they could eschew both dreadful audio AND high-end and do what pretty much every young person did 20-50 years ago which was have some decent floor-standers, decent power/pre (likely receiver or integrated), decent front end, all from thrift shops at very affordable prices.  
Space and/or a lack of knowledge that such a setup is even a thing prohibits people from persuing that low-mid range, let alone high.

People get turned off by the snake oil. I'm glad some of that is going away thanks to science and more accessible A/B testing.