The Rapid Rise (& Fall) of the CD

@facten I'll spare you the economics lesson, but:

CD sales are a small fraction of what they used to be and still declining. Manufacturers of CD players, CDs and creators who publish on CD look at these numbers to determine their path. As that number decreases fewer consumer CD players will be manufactured and artists will choose another means to deliver their work.

Super high-end manufacturers of audiophile CD transports do not care if last year 1 million CDs were sold versus 15 million a few years before. They're only concern is that the small number of audiophileswith very deep pockets want to buy a handful of these super expensive devices.

A small number of high-end CD transport manufacturers do not affect and are not affected by the millions of CDs that may or may not be sold. 

@mwinkc "I’ll spare you the economics lesson"

Guess I should turn in my MBA in Finance, and the 40 years I spent in business finance roles in a fortune 100 company must have been a dream. Let me know when your classes start so I can finally understand business economics from the great man himself

@chazz101s 

The beauty of the Snubway is it improves your entire playback. Mine is plugged into a CorePower 1800 which is plugged into a 20amp dedicated line

@fleschler  - obviously you are a hoarder or maybe more kindly, an overcollector. What is the point of having a record that you can't possibly listen to more than once in your lifetime? I listen maybe 15-20 hours a week which equates to about 1000 records a year. If you listen more than that, maybe you can listen to it twice in your lifetime (on average).

I listen to records I like and selectively add to my library of 350 or so records so the longest I would go without listening to a particular title (adhering to a fairly tight rotation based on how they are sorted) is 3-4 months. I can understand maybe going to 1000 records and listening once a year - maybe. Beyond that makes no sense to me.

I try to get the best issue/pressing I can (which are coming out all the time thanks to Chad at Acoustic Sounds, Mofi/Music Direct, Blue Note, Speakers Corner and the others) and occasionally replace them if a much better sounding new issue becomes available and I really like the album. Then I sell the old one! These guys who have 6 copies of the same record are a curiosity to me unless they are hoarders or overcollectors. Why wouldn't you just listen to the best sounding one and be done with it?

As long as there is profit in a format, the manufacturers will make them. There is enough support for vinyl to be growing for the past 20 years. They will never go away.  

I am surprised no one is talking about HiRez downloads - they sound like a good alternative for the paranoid out there who don't trust the streamers or streaming quality is not good (I wouldn't know). I don't have that set up - I am vinyl only on my home system. Just make sure you back up your server.

Any HiRezers (if that's what you call them)?

@sokogear  So, I am a hoarder and overcollector.  I am 68.  At 5 years old I had 300 records (78s & LPs).  The variety provided that I would not get bored.  I removed/sold 18,000 records in the past two decades.  I have probably another 10,000+ to remove.  I also have 3,000 books in two libraries.  I put more money into my music than into my equipment and listening room until 5 years ago when I purchased a home with a 5,700' ground floor and an upscale guard gated neighborhood where I thought theft would be less likely, especially with 13 tons of music.  

I chose this as my primary hobby since I was a child.  I had friends Thomas Chandler, Chandler's Wind-Up in San Bernardino with 1.5 million recordings, Music Man Murray with 1 million, Michael Lane with 250,000 78s and 50s LPs and my a half dozen friends of Thomas Null with 225,000 recordings (Varese Sarabande and other mid-tier record/CD producer.

My ethnic music collection of 3,750 recordings, 150+ made/recorded/mastered by me including major venues Disney Hall, Royce Hall, Ford Ampitheater, etc. has provided music to many other musicians in Southern California.  I was and am the archivist for two mid-level classical composers including the 11 CD compilation of the Erich Zeisl Vienna Centennial in 2005. 

So, if you want to throw negativity on my collecting music for the purpose of listening to it or using it like a lending library for ethnic music, go ahead if it makes you feel better.