High End Audio-Gaining Higher Ground?

I have two girls, one in HS and one in college. Both love music and spend much time listening and discussing music. They have been with me on many vinyl store trips and have come to really like artists that they have heard me play. They will request I play different tunes on my system for them but they listen from an adjacent room. They like the music but don't thirst for the high fidelity like we do.

I am kind of glad that they focus on the musical and lyrical content.

Atmasphere,
I'm intended to use and purchase only solid OAK furniture for my dwelling for various reasons.
A marketting price for high-end furniture is important. It also substantially more pricey vs. composit furniture, but money spent for value and built quality.
If audio or any high-end isn't about value and built quality, than it's going to dissapear with last adict living as mentioned by previous posters.

Very interesting topic indeed. I have three points, first in regards to comparison with car brands and the idea that Toyota is poor quality as compared to Mercedes. You confusing grade with quality, without a doubt a Toyota is of lower grade than Mercedes, but it would it would be difficult to prove that Toyota is of lesser quality. The Toyota was delivered exactly to spec, meeting all the criteria that the owner purchased no more no less. The fact that the Mercedes has wood trim instead of plastic does not impact the quality of the Toyota.
My brother once owned Range Rover, the best car ever he swore, all the luxury you could ever want. But when you open the passenger door the door gasket would fall off, if you opened the glove compartment you couldn’t get it closed again. That is poor quality, who cares whether there is wood trim on the face of glove compartment, if you can’t close it!
I think this misunderstanding of quality applies to audio too. An Ipod provides lower grade playback, but there is no doubt that the quality of the device surpasses most of what is produced and called high-end.
The next point is regarding the next generation, I consider myself younger than the average audiophile. So to some degree I am part of this next generation. I also have two young boys (1-1/2 and 5) and since the day they came home from the hospital they have listened to music. My five year old is an opera fan and bugs me to turn on the system to listen his favorites. Hopefully this trend will last. There is a lot of positives from this hobby and I try and encourage my kids to listen and appreciate the music and understand how it gets to their ears. I am not worried that there will not be an “audiophile” or music loving audience in the future.
My big concern is on the supply/technology side. What are the manufacturers and designers of today doing to ensure that the know-how and experience of the last 70 years is being passed on? Who is going to be designing and building the amps and turntables of the future? If we as the audience are asking will there be a future, do you think there are many kids coming out engineering school saying “I want to design tube amps, for the only three audiophile that are left!” It is one thing to be passionate about coming home at the end of the day and listening to your favorite music, but is a whole other thing to have the passion to devote your career to what appears to some to be a dying industry.
Ralph (Atmasphere), what are you doing, who is going to take over once you retire?

The issue I have with high end is mostly with the retail end of things. They barely do anything to promote music (ever see a small concert at an audio salon? No? Me neither), and apparently are happy with business as usual...I asked somebody at Goodwin's (nearby extreme high end shop) if they could put me on the email list for upcoming demos...they said they don't have an email list. I've mentioned concerts coming up in my town that audio sales dudes are oblivious to, modern concerts I've mixed recently in other towns with major jazz dudes they haven't heard of...it's amazing. There seems to be no promotion of the experience of "active listening," and I can bet that if you ask residents of this crowded area I live in if they've even heard of the two local high end shops, 99% would say no. You get what you've earned I suppose, and that's a shame.

I don't know what will happen to high end audio, but the thought of it continuing as we know it seems unlikely. Two reasons which have to do with the median age (between 55-60) of hifi enthusiasts come immediately to mind.

As I'm about to turn 60 I can still remember sitting around with my buddies, listening intently to albums. It was a social event. I also recall sitting alone listening to music, and I know my friends were similarly engaged. When I was home I was much more interested listening to music or reading than watching tv. Music was a major part of our lives, buying albums, reading music publications, trading albums, it was what we did. And I wasn't part of a small minority in my age group.

Now I watch my grandkids interact with their friends. It ain't the same. They are gathered around the video game console or immersed in their cell phones. Nothing wrong with their behavior, just different than my experience.

The other missing ingredient is the local hifi shop. I now live in Indianapolis where there are only a few hifi shops. And what these shops specialize in are upper level gear. My first system consisted of a Harman Kardon receiver, BSR turntable and Tech Hifi store brand speakers. That was heaven to my teen ears. It was also fun shopping and picking it out. Not sure my seventeen-year-old grandson could find that same experience. Without these specialty shops to browse/drool over sparkling new equipment, the seeds aren't planted.

Of course these are only two of the reasons high audio as we know it seems doomed. The music experience along with an abundance of dealers were a major influence on my early years as an audiophile.