In Reply to: What's keeping more people from becoming audiophiles? posted by scruffy_ on August 8, 2012 at 23:51:57:
There used to be lot of great decent mid-fi sound equipment around. Some of the upper-end midfi stuff (flagship receivers, top of the line mid-fi components) often rivaled the stuff in the high-end boutique stores. THere used to be mid-fi STEREO SHOPS. When megastores came around (Future shop, Circuit city, Best Buy, even Canada's ill fated A&B Sound) they had WONDER mid-fi selection and functional sound rooms. This is gone. Now the sound rooms are pathetic, improperly set up - if they exist at all. Mid-fi receivers are just items on a shelf now. Nobody takes the time to set up a system and nobody cares to look at one.
So, I think as we see erosion of the middle class, we see erosion of the mid-fi stereo system. Many people are just happy with home theatre in a box or earbuds. Nobody cares about flagship receivers and "better quality amps" anymore - in fact, big home theatre seems to be passe with friends who own spec homes and don't want to 'clutter up the aesthetic of the living room'. Wives hate black components more than ever. People want sound to be invisible and as long it makes noise, it's good enough. What passes for a subwoofer in most mid-fi shops makes we want to laugh or just vomit.
I think audiophiles were hard on mid-fi, but it was the last link to the common joe have "pride" in his stereo. Now the gap is larger and I think it's a stretch to get people to jump from earbuds/home theatre in a box to separate high end components.
That's my thoughts on it. 2 cents, maybe 3.
Cheers,
Presto
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Follow Ups
- Well, one thing is for sure. Midfi is dying. - Presto 10:45:07 08/09/12 (2)
- RE: Well, one thing is for sure. Midfi is dying. - beken 22:48:15 01/24/13 (1)
- RE: Well, one thing is for sure. Midfi is dying. - mrjdub33@aol.com 00:51:40 01/25/13 (0)