I have 2 sons- when I was my young's age I was already spying such things as Dual or Thorens turntables, AR speakers, and receivers from Pioneer, Marantz, Tandberg. And a Teac deck was not far from thought. Money I saved was earmarked for when I could purchase a system. Finally bought a system in 1977. Now fast forward to 2020- among my sons' friends, and they have many, there is exactly 1 person who has any interest in an audio system. Everyone else- music via earbuds and their cell phone is entirely adequate. And if you think about it, that's something to envy because they clearly care about the music, and the gear is purely a tool to get the music to them. I will also say that most of my kids' friend, however, do appreciate a fine sounding system. But the idea of having friends over to listen to records simply doesn't exist in 2020 among the younger set.Â
Is a stereo system a tougher sale to young people?
I have been listening to my Grado PS 500s lately and am being immersed in the tonal accuracy of these cans. I'm thinking if I had grown up with headphones as of todays audio generation it might be different. If I hear a good stereo I would critique it more and weigh the cost. True, back in the day, I'm 57 I would notice the articulate sound of cans. Todays headphones 🎧 do up the game quite a bit. What do you young people think? Do you think spending 10 times the cost of your headphone set up ( could include amp streamer and hi end cans) to approach the headphone sound is worth it? I get the 10x from Stereophile Lets say 2k investment in a headphone set up would equate to a 20k stereo setup. Now if you want loud deep accurate bass then maybe a little more. Let us hear your opinions.