I think there's a recent shift in emphasis on what high-end audio manufacturers are making, which may leave some of us old troglodytes (64 in my case) behind. Flavor-of-the-month seems to be music streaming as opposed to physical media, the latter being what most of us grew up with. My theory is that younger buyers, fewer of whom are audiophiles, are more focused on convenience and portability than actual audio quality. (Some of the blame here might rest with the advent of the MP3 format, the first time in the history of recorded music that the public demanded a LOWER quality of sound). While there remains a dizzying variety of traditional equipment still in production, I agree with many previous posters that prices have butted their heads against the ceiling of affordability, and the market is at or near saturation. In my area (Northern California) there are still a fair number of high-end audio stores and they show no signs of distress yet, but most concentrate on home theater which is where the money is at the moment.
What's going on with the audio market?
Recent retail sales reports are very bad and I am hearing that sales for audio equipment have been nonexistent over the past few months. I also see more dealers putting items up for sale here and on other outlets. Even items that have traditionally sold quickly here are expiring without being sold.
To what would you attribute the slowdown? Have you changed your buying habits for audio equipment and, if so, why?
To what would you attribute the slowdown? Have you changed your buying habits for audio equipment and, if so, why?