Today's New York Times

Okay... so then how are we going to introduce the "twenty and thirty somethings" into our hobby ?

Give them the opportunity to hear their music on your system. Let them *hear* what is possible. Music lives much better than it reads.

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Adam, you've got me wrong. I was not making fun of the guy's B&O speakers. There were two or three guys mentioned in the article. I merely identified him as the owner of the B&O speakers. I pointed him out because he was obviously the guy in the story with enough discretionary income to venture into the dark side, and an obvious music lover. I am not an audio snob by any stretch of the imagination. I make fun of audio snobs.
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My point is simply that the High End dealers don't care. There are 2 well known high end dealers near me in the Boston 'burbs and neither one has an email list of clients who might be interested in something. Like music reproduction and its beauty...live little show in the "salon?" No no no. Manufacturer's product seminar or little meet and greet? HA. My local tire shop does a better job of reaching out to potential clients. It amazes me, it's strange, and beyond these little rants I sort of don't care that much, but I feel better having ranted.

"Okay... so then how are we going to introduce the "twenty and thirty somethings" into our hobby ?"

The New York Times article reads like an infomercial. In order to get more people of any age interested in high end audio the price must become more reasonaly.

"My local tire shop does a better job of reaching out to potential clients.”

Yeah... mine too Wolf. The vast number of neglected opportunities is mind boggling. One small part of a very large image problem is that dealers don't really want to be bothered with the curious. When visiting an upscale salon for the first time, it’s just natural for a newbie to be somewhat awestruck, and want to touch and hear everything... especially the big system in its own room that he can’t afford. A good salesperson needs to be patient and understanding. This isn’t to say that he has to be infinitely accommodating, but some finesse is important. I can’t tell you how many guys that I’ve advised to go to a high end salon instead of a “Best Buy” type place, who came back to me saying they walked out feeling like assholes. These were guys who were willing to spend enough money to be treated respectfully.