FWIW, I think audiophiles obsess too much about the lack of new young blood in our hobby. Think about your own audiophile history. How old were you when you first subscribed to TAS or Stereophile? How old were you when you bought your first piece of genuine high end gear or speakers? In my case, all I knew was Stereo Review and mid fi gear until I was in my 30s. My first real speakers were purchased when I was 40. By then, I had a little more time and money, and the ability to learn about the hobby from the internet.
While the internet isn’t new to millennials, they are marrying later, buying their first homes later, and having kids later than my generation. So maybe it’s a wash. But when a person’s lifestyle changes from running around all the time to relaxing at home, they might begin to ask themselves, as I did when I hit 40, why not start to build a good system?
I saw some people like that when I worked briefly at a large audio and camera store in NYC. They were usually not that young and were clearly buying a home stereo system for the first time. I had little to offer beyond mid-fi, but they wanted something to listen to besides headphones. It made me think that our hobby will always be mainly for middle aged and older, mostly male, folk.
While the internet isn’t new to millennials, they are marrying later, buying their first homes later, and having kids later than my generation. So maybe it’s a wash. But when a person’s lifestyle changes from running around all the time to relaxing at home, they might begin to ask themselves, as I did when I hit 40, why not start to build a good system?
I saw some people like that when I worked briefly at a large audio and camera store in NYC. They were usually not that young and were clearly buying a home stereo system for the first time. I had little to offer beyond mid-fi, but they wanted something to listen to besides headphones. It made me think that our hobby will always be mainly for middle aged and older, mostly male, folk.