Assuming (uh,oh) that most people on here were born between 1945 and 1960, I think the reason behind the lack of enthusiasm for our hobby might be because we all matured and first had our own disposable income available at the time when "stack stereo" was in vogue and hi-fi was being heavily advertised as something to aspire to.
There were stores everywhere and the golden age of LPs and music in general was well underway.
The improvement in SQ compared to the radio or parents console was readily apparent so that gave us easy reasons to get on the treadmill of further SQ improvement and away we went.
We had our own rooms at home to set them up in and likely moved out of home and into our own houses or good sized apartments when real estate was affordable to all. There, we carried on because we took our gear with us.
Today? No stores, no ads, no LPs and it is very difficult to enter the real estate market.
What do they have instead? Portability and poor sound. With some education, they might work on improving the SQ from their phones but it is not the goal that it was for us.
Of my 3 boys who have all been fortunate to buy their own homes, only one has shown any interest in separate component music reproduction. His wife thinks it is a waste of time, money and space so it seems unlikely that he will stay on the treadmill.
There were stores everywhere and the golden age of LPs and music in general was well underway.
The improvement in SQ compared to the radio or parents console was readily apparent so that gave us easy reasons to get on the treadmill of further SQ improvement and away we went.
We had our own rooms at home to set them up in and likely moved out of home and into our own houses or good sized apartments when real estate was affordable to all. There, we carried on because we took our gear with us.
Today? No stores, no ads, no LPs and it is very difficult to enter the real estate market.
What do they have instead? Portability and poor sound. With some education, they might work on improving the SQ from their phones but it is not the goal that it was for us.
Of my 3 boys who have all been fortunate to buy their own homes, only one has shown any interest in separate component music reproduction. His wife thinks it is a waste of time, money and space so it seems unlikely that he will stay on the treadmill.