What's happened to the used high end market recently?? Sales are tough....:0(

"my son is 19 and listens to everything on his Iphone with earbuds."

+1, exactly the same for my son, who is 18.  So I bought him a pair of great Etymotic Research earbuds ($400) and a dac for his computer (an Oppo) and he's good.  He has no interest in even learning the turn-on sequence for my tube electronics. 

I have 17 year old teen-age twins--both spin records. One owns 3 crates of records, the other owns 4 crates. Importantly, they were each gifted their first crate by a great friend of mine who used to be a college radio DJ. Steve is the man! In Dallas, several new record shops opened up in the last couple of years even as the largest CD shop, CD Source, shut down. Josey Records (which has a few locations) is mostly average used records, a serviceable amount of new records, some CDs, and a section that sells audio gear. The audio gear is pretty much entry level. The place is fairly busy and has a young crowd (teens and 20 somethings) and the Agon aged crowd (old guys). Very few people in the 30s and 40s crowd. Since most of us started with entry level gear (that is a sensible place to start IMO) HEA might simply need to wait for its up and coming customers to work their way towards higher end equipment over time. And we probably need to acknowledge that uber-expensive gear, like an uber-expensive car, is an ultra-luxury item. Not necessary for enjoying the audio journey: but a great ride when the chance to experience it comes along.

astewart8944 - 
I have a small record shop in NJ specializing in Classic Rock with about 1,200 records in stock and a good supply of vintage stereo equipment. We play records all day when we are open on modest equipment - I switch it around but am currently using a Technics Integrated amp SU7700, Sony PS-FL5 turntable and decent vintage Infinity speakers - basically $425 system as priced in my shop. Most of my customers are exactly as you describe age-wise. Almost all of the younger customers are using Crosley type all in one record players or new suitcase players and have zero interest in the better sound they hear in my shop as they spend sometimes hundreds of dollars on vinyl. Oh well!

@jimman2 Thanks for this post. Well, at least they are spending hundreds of bucks in your shop! My boys are using a Music Hall 2.2MMF TT with the stock cartridge. They got it for Christmas several years back after asking me to drag out some vintage components I had in storage. Anyway, the path I'm seeing among their friends is they come over and hear my boys' setup. Most like it but aren't going to to do anything other than listen to free music through their laptop and earbuds. But, one friend, after hearing separates, cut a deal with his dad to work for half and his dad would cover the other half--he bought some entry level separates and an audiophile is born. That family has financial means. Another friend heard my boys' system and went home and dug out his grandfather's all-in-one record player. That family has limited means. But another audiophile is born. A glimmer of hope is out there!    

There are a few factors at play I believe:

1.  Many younger people are still saddled with student loan debt and while unemployment is nearing record low numbers, wages haven’t risen as they should have so money is tight.  Boomers who got caught out of sorts during the financial crisis are holding on to their jobs longer instead of retiring, making advancement harder.  

2. Partly due to the above, but also due to other trends such as younger people choosing more urban dwellings than suburbs, many younger people don’t have the space or the privacy (either roommates or living in apartments where you can’t play a stereo much without disturbing your neighbors, or living at home with parents where luxury purchase would be frowned upon plus the noise issues) to set up nice stereo systems.  

3.  Because of both of the above high end headphone sales have been booming. You can get an extraordinary headphone rig for a tiny fraction of the price of equivalent speakers, it takes up virtually no space, won’t disturb the neighbors or roommates, etc.  Headphones can easily be HEA, and while they can’t do everything that real speakers can do, they can provide an incredibly enjoyable musical experience without the expense and inconvenience of 100lbs floorstanders and the associated gear.  

4.  For those who are interest in traditional speakers, the quality of budget gear has increased exponentially over what it once was.  Easier access to computer modeling and computer aided design, a better understanding of science-driven speaker design, and manufacturer-direct selling via the internet have all helped bring the price of entry to very satisfying sound way down.  Elac, Q Acoustics, Hsu, Emotiva, RBH, Philharmonic Audio, RGL, etc, have proven you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to get a great experience.  

5.  This one may be controversial, but the prevalence of snake oil in HEA turns a lot of people just starting into the hobby away.  Cables costing hundreds of dollars or more, vibration control for solid state electronics, ‘audiophile’ fuses, mystery boxes that claim to have magic properties, etc, it all comes off as both silly and slightly deceptive.  At least the magic crystals of the past could be laughed off, today there’s a veneer of misleading pseudoscience being applied by purveyors of what usually amounts to nothing more than audio jewelry.