"High End" is a pretentious word coined by Harry Pearson. Maybe because the word "Hi-Fidelity" lost its original intent of meaning during the 60's when everything was referred to as "Hi-Fi" or "Hi-Fidelity? Don't know for sure, maybe Harry could clue us in to why he came up with the term in the first place. To me it has absolutely no meaning to differentiate a 1K system from a 1000K system for that matter. I really don't like the term myself. If it means money spent how much and furthermore so what? We purchase what we can afford and there is plenty of excellent "Hi End" gear that is affordable.
There will always be the 1-5%er's that want to hear their music well reproduced. I do agree with many of the posts above except for the one's that state the industry is close to death. Certainly agree not for an unconcious lack of trying. It has done an abysmal job of marketing itself. The continuing trend towards unjustifiably higher prices seems a concious decision by some in the industry to chase after the slow rather than fast buck, a "Stairway to the Stars" approach. Fortunately there are some manufacturers' that continue to design and market superb products at prices that average music lovers can actually afford. At least those 1-5%er's that are interested enough to seek them out. And yes, kids today have too many distractions, concerns and technologies to choose from but even among them there are those that are potential customers although that quaint notion that we the dinos have for the realization of well reproduced music in our homes will quite likely morph into something quite different in the future IME. 2 channel stereo played back through mega buck ostentatious sound systems is NOT the future of this industry but will remain a fringe of the fringe. Well reproduced music will survive for both music enthusiasts AND audiophiles and those that call themself both.
And back to the future we go, vinyl anyone and why not? If there is a renaissance in that format there must be a reason, like it STILL is more involving musically than digital maybe? Nah the answer couldn't be THAT simple to those that don't hear or believe it.
There will always be the 1-5%er's that want to hear their music well reproduced. I do agree with many of the posts above except for the one's that state the industry is close to death. Certainly agree not for an unconcious lack of trying. It has done an abysmal job of marketing itself. The continuing trend towards unjustifiably higher prices seems a concious decision by some in the industry to chase after the slow rather than fast buck, a "Stairway to the Stars" approach. Fortunately there are some manufacturers' that continue to design and market superb products at prices that average music lovers can actually afford. At least those 1-5%er's that are interested enough to seek them out. And yes, kids today have too many distractions, concerns and technologies to choose from but even among them there are those that are potential customers although that quaint notion that we the dinos have for the realization of well reproduced music in our homes will quite likely morph into something quite different in the future IME. 2 channel stereo played back through mega buck ostentatious sound systems is NOT the future of this industry but will remain a fringe of the fringe. Well reproduced music will survive for both music enthusiasts AND audiophiles and those that call themself both.
And back to the future we go, vinyl anyone and why not? If there is a renaissance in that format there must be a reason, like it STILL is more involving musically than digital maybe? Nah the answer couldn't be THAT simple to those that don't hear or believe it.