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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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In Reply to: Can anything be done to save our hobby? posted by Peter on January 13, 2011 at 19:39:42:
I hate to break it to you, but there is a whole world of products out there that don't cost a fortune. They don't get featured in the magazines much because there are no newcomers to audio in most Western countries, and all the existing readers have long since moved on from the entry-level stage.
Unfortunately, no amount of 'if you build it, they will come' works now with lower priced equipment, because people do build it and they don't in great numbers anymore.
The super expensive stuff sells... in Asia. Think about this from the perspective of a manufacturer. You can sell a loudspeaker at $2,000 to a North American (or worse, English) clientele, who will insist on a home demonstration from a dealer, damage the loudspeaker and then buy it online, buy it in tiny numbers (or wait until it's discontinued and buy in a fire sale) and pull you to pieces on a forum if they can't get 40% discount in seconds. On the other hand, they can sell a $200,000 loudspeaker to an appreciative Asian market who will treat both the manufacturer and product with respect, place enough orders to fill the books for the next six months and even pay over the odds to get moved up the line. Faced with the two options, which would you choose?
There's really no point in bemoaning that the top stuff isn't as good as the stuff costing 1/50th the price, because we are not buying the stuff at 1/50th the price either.
As to the whole classical issue... that's like getting a tow from the Titanic. If you think audio is dying, you should scope out the classical music market. It's currently so bad that if every person who has thus far contributed to this thread - and no one else - all bought the same classical CD tomorrow, it would bump it into the top 10.
Face it, for now, the audio world has its gaze set on emergent markets to sell its wares. It will move from market to market as the economies shift. Perhaps in 20 years, it will swing back to the West again. But right now, I think good audio in the West dies with the baby boomers.
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Follow Ups
- Sorry to burst your bubble - Gag Halfrunt 19:07:48 01/14/11 (1)
- RE: Sorry to burst your bubble and - Vic D 10:17:39 01/15/11 (0)
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