Death Of The Home Stereo System

well it is the year of the "sheep", posted on February 22, 2015 at 11:17:23
bullethead	well, you've seen them. staring into their phones, bumping into things, texting in traffic, wearing pajamas to the coffee shop in the morning. they are no human, that article is for the masses, the unwashed massed, the cannon fodder. that's why the article is on CNN, what a joke, that's not even a real news site. It's a bullshit article.

here's what the sheep need, posted on February 22, 2015 at 11:24:07
bullethead	a good integrated and this pizza above, mozarella / ricotta / potatoes / spinach.... they are mal-nourished, they don't know how to think, it is crazy. call me elitist :)

It's listed amongst the list of Obsolete..., posted on February 22, 2015 at 11:27:34

kuma
Audiophile

Posts: 10272
Location: IN
Joined: July 8, 2001

I feel like ' I am next.'. :/

Recently, I have met some younger women, who did not know what *hifi* or stereo meant.

You're just in a state of denial..., posted on February 22, 2015 at 11:33:57
Steve O Audiophile Posts: 12364 Location: SE MI Joined: September 6, 2001	.....The article is closer to the truth than most audiophiles are going to be willing to admit. It's probably even more painful that one of your many hobbies is more typically pursued primarily by geezers........and technically you're not a geezer yet although maybe your audiophile pursuits makes you a precocious geezer.

RE: You're just in a state of denial..., posted on February 22, 2015 at 11:35:50
bullethead	I am a geezer, 37 years old in flesh, 900 years old in mind. I can't stand television, mainstream media, and people. it's all just so crummy, and it gets worse every single day.

Oooooo!..., posted on February 22, 2015 at 11:37:34
Steve O Audiophile Posts: 12364 Location: SE MI Joined: September 6, 2001	...what's that thing in the center of the pizza? A cryo treated quantum flavor purifier?

I mix both, posted on February 22, 2015 at 11:38:37
cloudwalker Audiophile Posts: 634 Location: central wa Joined: September 27, 2012	I have my PC hooked up to my sound system. Listening to any song is suddenly possible with the internet. But this only refers to "digital" music.

You REALLY are a precocious geezer..., posted on February 22, 2015 at 11:40:22
Steve O Audiophile Posts: 12364 Location: SE MI Joined: September 6, 2001	...at least in mind. Well done!

I was thinking.., posted on February 22, 2015 at 11:59:14
cloudwalker Audiophile Posts: 634 Location: central wa Joined: September 27, 2012	You can listen to old (analog) recordings too. I am not sure how they convert from analog to digital but the quality is good. Then they go over the internet in digital format..

RE: You're just in a state of denial..., posted on February 22, 2015 at 12:16:57

regmac
Audiophile

Posts: 7359
Joined: April 7, 2002

"The article is closer to the truth than most audiophiles are going to be willing to admit."

Agreed.

Audiophiles are dinosaurs, but there is no mega-meteor that's going to put them out of their misery in a hurry. Instead, it will be death by a thousand cuts of indifference where the general public is concerned. The vast majority of humanity just doesn’t care about this hobby and audiophiles should get over it.

The current situation with audiophiles is analogous to Jay Nordlinger’s take on classical music. Nordlinger: I’m reminded of the classical-music business — which is always whoring after popularity. I have to tell them, “There’s a reason they call pop music ‘pop music,’ you know: It’s popular. You’re not. So what? Quit trying to be cool. Provide excellent classical music for those who want it, and let the rest of the world do its own thing.”

It ain't dead yet....at least not in Syracuse, posted on February 22, 2015 at 12:29:58

Byrd69
Audiophile

Posts: 2881
Location: East Syracuse, New York
Joined: August 23, 2004

Syracuse is fortunate to have a store dedicated to vintage and modern high end audio.

On another note....I happened to catch the moments before the Daytona 500. What a crock of sheet that event has become.

Kid Rock appearance, drivers walking down a runway like supermodels with fireworks going off and terrible music repeating itself itself in the background. And then some driver, somehow weaves a scripted KFC plug into the middle of his pre-race interview. It was disgusting.

This and many other reasons is why I cut my cable bill to zero. 1940's rabbit ears so a spectacular job for the 3 hours of TV I view in a month.

Oh....and Syracuse is fortunate to have a store dedicated to vintage and modern high end audio.

Your interest may vary but the results will be same. (Byrd 2020)

I can't compete with the dead. (Buck W. 2010)

Cowards can't be heroes. (Byrd 2017)

Why don't catfish have kittens? (Moe Howard 1937)

RE: well it is the year of the "sheep", posted on February 22, 2015 at 12:37:45
geezerrocket	A big +1 to you Bullethead! Unwashed, cannon fodder......Agreed. You and I sir could solve most anything - given enough Coors light, good food and good tunes.

I know it is soo sad, posted on February 22, 2015 at 12:57:00
bullethead	it is sad, and to pay to watch that trash is something else. I've even given up on the internet for news, there's some real news but it is being infiltrated and co-opted into something else, there's a lot of disinformation agents out there now trying to steer the narrative. so I don't look at it, and just relax and read books and listen to the music ;)

More of "the masses, the unwashed massed, the cannon fodder.", posted on February 22, 2015 at 13:30:03
E-Stat Audiophile Posts: 37606 Joined: May 12, 2000 Contributor Since: April 5, 2002

RE: It's listed amongst the list of Obsolete..., posted on February 22, 2015 at 14:42:39
fantja Audiophile Posts: 15518 Location: Alabama Joined: September 11, 2010	very cool illustration.

RE: Death Of The Home Stereo System, posted on February 22, 2015 at 14:43:33
fantja Audiophile Posts: 15518 Location: Alabama Joined: September 11, 2010	I never watch or read anything from CNN (communist news network)!

Absolutely, posted on February 22, 2015 at 15:07:03
jedrider Audiophile Posts: 15166 Location: No. California Joined: December 26, 2003	I didn't understand Jar jar though, but I got all the others.

Thankfully portables are so much better these days, posted on February 22, 2015 at 15:23:44
Goober58	Making the jump from the convenience of consumer level audio to audiophile level more affordable than ever.

I Guess We Have To Be Reminded Periodically......, posted on February 22, 2015 at 16:07:29

Todd Krieger
Audiophile

Posts: 37333
Location: SW United States
Joined: November 2, 2000

This same article was brought up here a year and a half ago.....

http://db.audioasylum.com/mhtml/m.html?forum=general&n=65985

RE: here's what the sheep need, posted on February 22, 2015 at 23:06:35
geezerrocket	What to drink?

RE: here's what the sheep need, posted on February 23, 2015 at 04:19:45
Nick77 Audiophile Posts: 10 Location: Austin Tx Joined: February 13, 2012	Count me in the old geeezer crowd audiophile, better late than never. haha

What actually killed the 'home stereo' was the VCR, posted on February 23, 2015 at 06:17:46

Feanor
Audiophile

Posts: 9858
Location: London, Ontario
Joined: June 17, 2003
Contributor
Since: March 12, 2004

I agree that the heyday of home stereos was the '70s and early '80s. What killed mainstream consumer interest in (and dollars for) hi-fi was the VCR.

Here's a clue: for the average Joe, video will always trump sound.

Dmitri Shostakovich

RE: You're just in a state of denial...people are cool..., posted on February 23, 2015 at 06:32:47
wangmr Audiophile Posts: 2410 Location: Downtown Joined: November 29, 2012	i can't help laughing when i see a specimen. roger wang

RE: Oooooo!..., posted on February 23, 2015 at 06:34:36
wangmr Audiophile Posts: 2410 Location: Downtown Joined: November 29, 2012	it's definitely the 'centerpiece' for us elitists ... except the plastic it's made from. roger wang

Remember Enid Lumley?, posted on February 23, 2015 at 09:20:50

rlw
Audiophile

Posts: 3347
Location: Near West Palm Bch, FL
Joined: August 29, 2006

That's her pizza-box-tripod tweak:

"In his "From the Editor's Desk" in the March issue of Stereophile's e-newsletter, John Atkinson recounts how, years ago, "erstwhile audio scribe Enid Lumley" demonstrated her pizza-box-tripod tweak at a hi-fi show. Lumley, JA writes, "placed the tripod atop a CD player and convinced her audience—including me—that the sound was better."

I shit you not!! How soon we forget....
-RW-

Enid's pizza-box-tripod tweak

RE: Absolutely, posted on February 23, 2015 at 10:37:26
-æ- Bored Member Posts: 788 Joined: May 9, 2013 Contributor Since: March 1, 1999	Jar Jar Binks is a fictional character from the Star Wars saga. If you aren't quite noticing or accepting what is really going on in the present, but are responding based on your thoughts or feelings about what ought to be, then you are apt to collide with what is really going on.

Remember JP Sousa's warning . . ., posted on February 23, 2015 at 10:50:35
Brian H P Audiophile Posts: 1291 Location: Oregon Joined: December 18, 2012	. . . that the advent of home radios and record players would reduce the number of people interested in learning to play an instrument, reduce instrument sales, and reduce attendance at live musical performances. It all came true!

Interesting Article, posted on February 23, 2015 at 11:51:53

Bromo33333
Audiophile

Posts: 3502
Location: Ipswich, MA
Joined: May 4, 2004

THe author is making the assumption that portable audio kills all other audio.

Motorcycles didn't kill off automobiles, and vice versa. Neither did the airplane, the train or hot air balloon.

I guess my point is that headphones are different enough form a home stereo system that it isn't an entry level drug, nor is it a substitute.

The portable listeners will do their thang until they get married and have kids. Then the headphones have to come off, because, hello, you have a passel of rugrats to chase around. The stereo - or room filling music - can come back. Even if it is a Dock, or a streaming system.

But, also, the "go out and buy a home stereo stack" that everyone did when we got out on our own, ended decades ago. The options for on-demand entertainment are different today than they were decades ago.

====
"You are precisely as big as what you love and precisely as small as what you allow to annoy you." ~ R A Wilson

Alive and well in my home (basement, actually) - don't give a damn about anything else., posted on February 23, 2015 at 13:13:29
carcass93 Audiophile Posts: 7181 Location: NJ Joined: September 20, 2006	And oh, Death (Metal) is being played on that system, too.

We never forget (nt), posted on February 23, 2015 at 14:37:55
Steve O Audiophile Posts: 12364 Location: SE MI Joined: September 6, 2001

And yet the opposite is also true., posted on February 23, 2015 at 16:09:18

jusbe
Audiophile

Posts: 5950
Location: North Island
Joined: April 4, 2000

Any producer worth their salt would be familiar with this technological hierarchy of production values - and film schools will tell you when considering the overall impact of visual content - think

"Sound before Picture, Content before Camera"

The Blair Witch Project, often cited as an example of the first priority. New values determine the second (if you had footage of Princess Diana flirting with Elvis, any network would take it even if you filmed it on your smartphone).

People appear to much more readily put up with decent sound and crap picture than the other way around.

Big J

"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."

@2013 article..., posted on February 23, 2015 at 16:13:25
JoeKool Audiophile Posts: 896 Location: NYC Joined: May 9, 2003	Two years later and the Hone Stereo is alive and limping along, pronounced Dead,with the advent of Home Theatre surround 5.1, then 7.1, 9.2... Yet, still alive and kicking as far as I can tell. Maybe it will die when I die.

Very fictional. nt, posted on February 23, 2015 at 23:38:23
jusbe Audiophile Posts: 5950 Location: North Island Joined: April 4, 2000	Big J "... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal* salvation is a contradiction in terms."*

I still have time in my life for most of those! nt, posted on February 24, 2015 at 03:34:26
jusbe Audiophile Posts: 5950 Location: North Island Joined: April 4, 2000	Big J "... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal* salvation is a contradiction in terms."*

"I am a geezer, 37 years old in flesh, 900 years old in mind.", posted on February 24, 2015 at 08:46:38
soulfood Audiophile Posts: 3725 Joined: August 9, 2001	"I can't stand television, mainstream media, and people. it's all just so crummy, and it gets worse every single day." Take your medication as prescribed.

RE: You're just in a state of denial...people are cool..., posted on February 24, 2015 at 08:52:59
soulfood Audiophile Posts: 3725 Joined: August 9, 2001	"i can't help laughing when i see a specimen." Drugs and bathroom jokes don't mix.

Not only skewing to the older ..., posted on February 24, 2015 at 09:00:06

Bromo33333
Audiophile

Posts: 3502
Location: Ipswich, MA
Joined: May 4, 2004

... but skewing about 85% male.

The way we piece together and use the stereo system, we may as well be using headphones, since it is solitary by its nature with "dedicated rooms" and "mancaves."

I think we also may be driving folks away by our drive to complete accuracy rather than driving to the capture of music and using technology to that end.

I like to think that my wife and I are on a slightly different tack - we use Sonos for casual "so we're cooking dinner" - and then settle in to a LP or three after dinner.

====
"You are precisely as big as what you love and precisely as small as what you allow to annoy you." ~ R A Wilson

RE: Remember JP Sousa's warning . . ., posted on February 24, 2015 at 10:42:19

michaelhigh
Audiophile

Posts: 839
Location: midwest
Joined: August 18, 2010

So often the past comes back in startling reality.

It is really that hard to sit still long enough to enjoy quality sound? Are we REALLY that ADHD that we can't assemble good rigs and merely ENJOY???

Here's a lyric I wrote for my upcoming album:

Stare Into The Palm Of Your Hand
Why you do this I can't understand
There's a certain feeling that's gone
I can't believe that time marches on

Till there's no more meeting face-to-face
Till we're swallowed up in the rat race
Till there's no more need to relate
I'm feeling it's getting too late

To stare into the palm of your hand
Has it really gone according to plan?
Can we find ourselves in spite of our fate?
Can we pull ourselves from out of this state?

Or will we stare into the palm of our hand?
And see reality reduced to mere sand?
Our future is still at our command
Unless we stare into the palm of our hand

RE: Remember JP Sousa's warning . . ., posted on February 24, 2015 at 10:42:40

Pat D
Audiophile

Posts: 12506
Location: Fredericton NB
Joined: June 20, 2000

Actually, I don't remember J. P. Sousa's remarks on that. He died well before I was born, and I don't remember coming across them before. But I tend to agree with him on learning to play instruments and buying them. Before all that recorded music and radio, etc., if a lot of people wanted music at home, they had to supply it themselves or depend on friends and neighbors and go to such concerts as came their way. Churches have long had live music, and still do, though now microphones help out a lot.

I am a good example of this, though my brothers were not as they could sight read music and learned to play instruments. We all sang, one brother was a voice major. I am not much of a technical musician, but I do sing pretty well in most people's opinion, though my voice teacher thinks I need improvement, though she admits I have a beautiful voice.

Concerts I don't know about. Many churches had live music in the past, of course. But how many concerts did most people attend years ago? Nowadays, a lot of churches still have live music, too, but many in the choirs have little musical training. There are many live concerts but so many of them are amplified. So, Sousa may have been only partially right about the effect of recordings on concerts.

Our local choral society is devoted to performing great choral works (we're working on the Brahms German Requiem this year), and as a group, read music pretty well, especially the sopranos and altos. There are enough that do sight read music to carry the rest along. The tenors as a group read pretty well, but some are women. Most of the bass section dont't sight read well, although one of our basses sight reads music very well. But he also plays flute in the orchestra, so if we perform with the orchestra, he can't sing with us.

I understand some European countries have great musical traditions.
-----
"A fool and his money are soon parted." --- Thomas Tusser

There was a time . . ., posted on February 24, 2015 at 12:43:19

Brian H P
Audiophile

Posts: 1291
Location: Oregon
Joined: December 18, 2012

. . . before radio and record players, when probably MOST well-off households had a piano -- the ability to play was considered a social grace -- and MANY working folks had a guitar or banjo or dulcimer or penny whistle or whatever. For entertainment, people would get together to sing and play, not at a professional level but well enough to have fun. And there really were traveling instrument salesmen like in The Music Man, promoting their companies' products all over the country. I suspect that a much larger percentage of the population played instruments then than do now.

As for live performances, in addition to church music, nearly every town of any size had a community band which played regularly in the park and marched in parades. Most larger towns had a dance hall or concert hall or opera house which regularly hosted both local talent and traveling troupes.

Professional mourners can perpetually attend the funeral, I will stick with the living, here & now..., posted on February 24, 2015 at 21:08:29
three_sox	... Home audio is alive and well. Dead people can go elsewhere.

So, I must be living in a grave yard!, posted on February 24, 2015 at 21:51:22
jedrider Audiophile Posts: 15166 Location: No. California Joined: December 26, 2003	Truth is that I've cut the number of systems down to 2 from 4. My kid is happy with an iPod connected to a Boom Box, so that counts as the second system as the home theater doesn't see much music play time at all.

When's your funeral scheduled for, Sox? :-)) ..., posted on February 25, 2015 at 02:01:03
andyr Manufacturer Posts: 12548 Location: Melbourne Joined: September 2, 2000	I will take time off work to traverse the border fence and attend. :-)) Andy

Not soon enough for some ... , posted on February 25, 2015 at 03:17:46
three_sox	... I have made no arrangements, whoever cares can do whatever they wish, it is not as though I will be around to critique the event. I have left a few shekels to my wife and kids which should enable them to throw a decent party or two. In the meantime I will enjoy my stereo and whatever meager morsels of enjoyment which happen my way. Life's good, enjoy it :)

RE: So, I must be living in a grave yard!, posted on February 25, 2015 at 03:29:22
middleground	No, more like an hospice.

RE: There was a time . . ., posted on February 25, 2015 at 17:19:43

Pat D
Audiophile

Posts: 12506
Location: Fredericton NB
Joined: June 20, 2000

I am not quite so old, as I have always lived with recorded music and broadcast music (like the Saturday afternoon Met broadcasts). My mother played piano pretty well, sight read piano music quite well, and could even do some transposition.

There is still quite a lot of music in various cities and communities.

I have never seen a good historical account of the general level of musical knowledge and participation over time. But maybe that's because I never looked very hard.

-----
"A fool and his money are soon parted." --- Thomas Tusser

RE: It's listed amongst the list of Obsolete..., posted on February 25, 2015 at 20:48:11
c1ferrari Audiophile Posts: 640 Location: Southern California Joined: March 16, 2001	Cute list :-) Vbr, Sam

Mr. Hulot's Holiday, posted on February 25, 2015 at 22:24:32

genungo

Isn't trying to recreate the sound of a band of musicians in our living room an ever-so-slightly odd idea?

Does anyone here remember that scene in the film "Mr. Hulot's Holiday"? The other vacationers were scrambling around wondering where all of this racket was coming from and Hulot was the guy they found sitting alone in his little room, calmly *listening to music at lifelike levels*. Check it out at about 28:30 in the video. It is a very funny scene!

For a few decades audiophiles managed to look smart and cool. Today they are reaping the derision that they have, perhaps, always deserved.

M. Hulot's Holiday

More like death to listening, posted on February 28, 2015 at 08:43:24

Ogsarg
Audiophile

Posts: 640
Location: Central Coast, CA
Joined: October 19, 2004

Seems to me that there are very few people that actually listen to music. By that I mean listen as an activity, not as something to have on while doing something else.

As a teenager, it was common for people to hang out and listen to music. just sit in a dark room and listen to records without talking or texting, or playing video games. I have asked my kids if anyone does that anymore and they look at me like I'm crazy. The idea of it is totally foreign.

When the music becomes background, people just don't care where it comes from or how it sounds. On the other hand, if the sound was good, perhaps people would listen more.

I think there will continue to be people that will listen and companies to supply quality equipment. It may be a smaller number of them, but it will not go away entirely.

General Asylum

Death Of The Home Stereo System

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