I am 63. I have been a hobbyist since college, (AR table, Sherwood integrated, EV speakers). Spent a decade in the business. Owned and sold equipment in an age when a Iowa town of 100,000 had 5 local stores, selling ARC, Magnepan, Polk, Thorens, Infinity, Bozak, ESS, Ohm Walsh, a/d/s, Klipschorns, Altec 19s, AR-9s, Tannoy Dual Concentrics, JBL Century, Hafler, Carver Amazing, Epicure, HK Citation, yada, yada. The town has grown to probably 170,000 and now has a single Best Buy. I am sadden by the decline in brick and mortar stores. Part of the decline is the challenge all local retail faces as online options impact our economy. The decline also, more importantly I think, reflects the turn of the fashion cycle between generations. My children grew up with great audio (and left home with systems I put together)-so its not that they were not exposed to quality, its just not as important to them. Conversely my Depression surviving parents must have shook their heads as I became more and more obsessed with musical reproduction, (even had a "career" in it). So much of our identity and preferences are of the time we grew up in. Hey if you were in college in the 70's you wanted the best system you could afford, for status with the guys, and sex appeal with the ladies, (turn down the lights and put on that Moody Blues or It's Beautiful Day you've been hiding). Today's hipsters are measured by their phones, tats, taste in microbrews, etc. -it's not a value thing, it is all equally valid/ridiculous. They will lament when the last "Body Ink Artist" closes shop due to their kids finding their own, necessarily different, aesthetic.
