People DO LOVE audio ... but it's fully integrated in ways that meet lifestyle requirements OR it's available to the degree allowed by economics. Most younger gen people are near-penniless and have "socialization" interests that preclude fragmentation (ie, a distinct and separate/separately-spaced audio system). This kind of suggests that most of us are too "busy" to waste precious time on something that is in large part esoteric and questionable as a separate entity. Virtually all of my students are aware of music that I never hear or have even heard of, but their listening habits/strategies make little sense to me, nor do mine to them. They look at me as if I were a freak ... and I am the freak ... even more so because I listen to jazz ....
Why Don't More People Love Audio?
Can anyone explain why high end audio seems to be forever stuck as a cottage industry? Why do my rich friends who absolutely have to have the BEST of everything and wouldn't be caught dead without expensive clothes, watch, car, home, furniture etc. settle for cheap mass produced components stuck away in a closet somewhere? I can hardly afford to go out to dinner, but I wouldn't dream of spending any less on audio or music.