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In Reply to: RE: High-end audio: a lost cause? posted by tinear on April 17, 2014 at 19:30:48
Not a lost cause.
But I do think by retreating into rarefied air, it has limited its market in a world awash in on demand entertainment.
I do think the younger generation will come to it ... when they are older.
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"I do think the younger generation will come to it ... when they are older."
I cannot think of anyone who first got interested in audio after age 25..........
... I got my first high end rig when I was 35!
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Hey! I have a blog now: http://mancave-stereo.blogspot.com or "like" us at https://www.facebook.com/mancave.stereo
First, I collected Shortwave Radios.
Then I collected Ham Radios.
Then I collected Japanese Radios.
Then I got a Life!
I'm back to collecting Radios ;-)
So, you really think it starts that early??
I think that, for this discussion to have meaning, we must separate high end from high fidelity. It is possible to attain the latter while avoiding the former. Out of necessity, I did so until I was older - too many responsibilities and too much competing for my limited funds. I did the best I could, but purchasing an $18,000 amplifier (for instance) had to wait until I sailed past 50.
Of course, 'high end' has been shifting upward the entire time I've been into music reproduction. Today's high end gear is, indeed, stratospheric in price. How could that not limit its market? On the other hand, the wealthy have never been wealthier or greater in number. Ergo, although high end has escalated into rarefied air, that's precisely where its market is.
Fortunately for those of us who are not flush with cash, those who are seem to be rather restless. When the latest and greatest is introduced, last year's high end finds its way to the used market. As a matter of fact, that's precisely how I purchased the aforementioned amplifier, which means that I 'only' paid half that amount. I couldn't buy used high end gear unless someone purchased it new.
The high end, by definition, is, was and forever will be a marginal market. All of the indicators I see, however, suggest that it's less marginal today, even as it rises farther out of the reach of the hoi polloi, than it was a decade or two ago. High fidelity (at least, as it was formerly defined) can be found on lower shelves than in the past.
"The high end, by definition, is, was and forever will be a marginal market. All of the indicators I see, however, suggest that it's less marginal today, even as it rises farther out of the reach of the hoi polloi, than it was a decade or two ago. High fidelity (at least, as it was formerly defined) can be found on lower shelves than in the past."
I think it is possible to assemble a great sounding stereo system for less now than 10 years ago, 10 years ago you could put together an unapologetically good system for $5-8k. Now? You could put one together for about $2-3k, perhaps even less. It certainly isn't chump change, but it is more affordable to those that care now more than ever.
And, with the high end headphones sales continuing to boom (though signs of it levelling off are not ignorable) and the success of Pono, and the vinyl revival - all for better sound quality - you can put together a probable scenario where a traditional home stereo will figure more prominently in a family than in the last 25 years.
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Hey! I have a blog now: http://mancave-stereo.blogspot.com or "like" us at https://www.facebook.com/mancave.stereo
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