end of an era ......

Expect to see a lot more of this over the next dozen years. A great number of small companies are going to decide that it just isn't paying anymore. Or they will just decide they are too old to continue. And some will be absorbed by Harmon type conglomerates. However it happens, business will cease for dozens of the brands you so admire. Some of the principals will die too. Time and tide ..............

Everything in hi-end audio is dying. The rate of decay varies depending on how the outfit you are citing is set up and what kind of products it sells. No matter how you slice it though, the tree is dead. If it continues at all beyond my lifetime, it will be a mostly DIY niche with a few guys like Vinnie Rossi left standing. The crazy pricing will subside as well. For the most part rich guys only want that stuff because they can afford it and you can't. As we die off, so will the allure that feeds the rich guy ego now.

And let's not forget the bigger picture --- the last economic meltdown was just a preview. The next one will surely result in devastating inflation. We are headed for the Middle Ages.

BIF - I have been a practicing audio haruspex for nearly 20 years and, until today, had no idea there was a title for the practice, much less the potential for ordination in my field. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. To date my prognostication has been met with responses ranging all the way from completely ignoring me to calling for my head. Perhaps by gaining a title and official sanction I would benefit my credibility. What is the name of the organization that conferred your ordination and the powers that such a title entrails? I need something to bolster my cred herein. The natives dismiss me much too readily for my liking.

And Schubert, I hope you have misdiagnosed. My scenario, as I forsee it, includes electricity but revokes the right to vote or own property. Those privileges will only be bestowed by birth or divine provenance.

End of a Thread?