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I wonder how many audiophiles there are these days

There’s a lot of speculation about how this is a dying hobby. I’ve been at this for 40 years, and it certainly isn’t what it used to be. In the old days there were cars and stereos as “toys” and that was about it. Now there’s a long list of competition, together with a general lack of interest in high end sound quality (Pono didn’t make it, which was no surprise). 

My kids friends come over (millennials) and I often get a “wow”, and that’s about it. I keep an old vacuum tube in a drawer to hand them, for the inevitable question “what are those?”. Then I tell them about how I’d go to the drugstore with my dad and do the TV tube test as a regular activity, which usually leads to a strange look and a sudden desire to know what’s for dinner. 

Anyway, there are still many high end equipment companies, probably more than ever, but it’s likely most only sell a handful of units. Serious audio stores are pretty rare, witness the road trips some of us take to just hear a set of speakers. 

If if you define “audiophile” as someone that is seriously interested in this as a hobby, does serious research on components, and is willing to spend a significant sum (which is totally relative), how many of us are there? I suspect at least 10,000, but not more than 50. Total guess, I’m hoping it’s higher because it’s a great hobby and I’d hate to see it get any more rare. 

Probably more important, is whether interest has stabilized. I think it has. There seem to be a lot of younger guys in these forums as well.

What do you think? 
JL


glow_worm
glow_worm OP
84 posts
 
Thought I’d chime in again, I was distracted by the side discussion about Das Kapital and economic theory.

I come away thinking that the stories about audiophile sound reproduction dying have been greatly exaggerated.

Tomycy6 - brilliant to look at the Stereophile subscription numbers, wish I’d thought of that. If you take these numbers, add other similar subscriptions, those that read but don’t subscribe, worldwide interest (yes, including growing wealth and ability to pay), etc., you get to some pretty sizable numbers very quickly. I also think you’re right about purchases moving to the internet, which is much more cost effective. We probably infer too much based on the greatly diminished number of retail stores.

Djones, absolutely true it was always a niche market. Whether you’re listening to a 1968 $20 Garrard TT or iPhone earbuds it’s the same stratification, a small number of people take an interest in music quality while most don’t.

One very positive change is that price performance has come WAY down. I recently put together a system for my daughter and son-in-law. By carefully selecting products and managing component synergy, I spent less than $5k (all digital), and came away with quality I don’t think was possible 30 years ago for 3x the money. There’s capitalism for you!

JL

geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
I don’t know what kind of music Fabio listens to but Frank Zappa reported it was the best audio system he ever saw. However, there seems to some controversy as to whether that’s Fabio or Michael Green in the photos.

http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?13814-Fabio-s-System-1995
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,419 posts
 
Set up in a marble and glass room!
phromm's avatar
phromm
6 posts
 
Here's perhaps a different take on the current audiophile scene and how the younger generation might perceive it (I'm in the middle - GenX).  I consider myself a "reluctant audiophile" because while I want to hear the best sound quality I can.  I'm far more excited by the broad access to music these days available through Spotify and other streaming services.  Perhaps I'd be more disappointed in the sound quality of streaming music if I had a $50k system, but at my $5k level (Peachtree Nova, Sonus Faber Concertinos, REL sub), it sounds decent and I'm never bored by the music I have available.  For the $120/year price I pay for premium Spotify (or even at the $240 level that you'd pay for "HiFi" level Tidal), how many good quality LP's can you buy?
jacksky
99 posts
 
When big screen TV's started coming down in price everyone thought movie theaters would go out of business. didn't really happen. 
In the past 7-10 years printed newspapers and magazines disappear more than the ones that survive. Definitely did happen.
regarding counting magazine subscriptions, how many doctors offices are in those numbers?
The younger generation that will be in the spending top of the bell curve in 10 years - I just don't think the will want to be bothered moving a speaker to change the toe-in by 2" to improve the focus. 

as an aside, I see most speaker lines having common drivers but as you step up you get a bigger cabinet and more bass.  That's it!   naturally that's kind of like paying 3x more to go 145MPH instead of 130MPH.  and if you want to go 160MPH the cost again goes up geometrically.  that top end in cars is the bottom end in speakers. 
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