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Is this the end of HEA?

http://www.cepro.com/article/is_this_the_end_of_high_performance_audio_at_ces

This last year has made my ears perk up. Honestly I didn't even know the article above had been written until now. What I did know was listeners have been in touch with me about the future of HEA and their future as advanced listeners. It's been nice to see folks getting in touch with me and even nicer that they are doing so because they wish to settle into their final system sound. To say things in their words "it's been an expensive ride" and most of these folks aren't sure they've gotten a fair shake always from the hobby. Many feel they have bank rolled a part of a hobby that hasn't always delivered the goods. Basically instead of telling listeners that this is a variable hobby the "experts" pushed a very expensive game of component Plug & Play onto the discrete audio generation. I remember those days of guilt buying where a dollar amount was used as a representative for quality, when it meant no such thing. I knew first hand this was not the case as designers scrambled to make up-sell products that sounded less musical than the original products that put their name in audio fame. I also could see the HEA decline happening but still was giving the benefit of the doubt to those saying HEA was just fine and growing. Mom and pop stores for the most part have vanished in the US with the exception of a few creative thinkers. New expensive products are being adored but I don't see many actually buying them. Now I've got my eye on T.H.E. Show (Richard's show) and wondering if it's happening or not. Richard and I have talked many times about what will happen to HEA in the US if T.H.E. Show and CES cease doing their thing in Vegas. I wonder what Richard RIP is thinking now sitting in the clouds.

I am very excited to see the next few years come about even though I know some are still buying into the old paradigm that the HEA is the cutting edge with only a volume control to adjust and a fork lift included with every purchase. Going to the CES web, I have my answer for Vegas. Going to T.H.E. Show website I'm still in question. If these two are no more, in terms of HEA, who's next?

Michael Green

128x128michaelgreenaudio
acman3
4,122 posts
 
What do we care what they do with them?  Make a planter out of my speakers. We are on to other things. 

Also, I think the main problem is the cost, at this time. Even used prices are above a sensible man's level of comfort. A secondary problem is customer base croaking, but getting more severe in next decade as posters and buyers on this site go silent, or enter headphone days as others take control of us.
acman3
4,122 posts
 
Actually that would be cool to see, a pair of Supra 2’s with the top cut off, used as a planter, and an implant in the brain for sound.

Can't remember if I took the blue or the red pill today.
glow_worm
84 posts
 
I started this thread a while back, the same general topic. The consensus was that HEA is in better shape now than we generally assume...

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/i-wonder-how-many-audiophiles-there-are-these-days
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
The premier high end store Excalibur in Alexandria closed circa 1986. They even had the monster Infinity Reference System. It’s been downhill in HEA ever since. Meyer-Emco, Audio Associates also long time gone. The Paragon of Sound in MD long gone. It takes big bucks to stay the in the game. The big 50x50 room I was in with Tenor and Rockport at Tuscany Hotel in Vegas was something like 50 big ones for 4 days. Mapleshade stopped going to CES twenty years ago. Money talks, nobody walks.
janmnov
35 posts
 
My 19 year old son just came in while I was reading this discussion chain.  I summarized the sentiment of this forum and asked him for his opinion.
I should begin by saying for the last 4-5 years he has watched (and listened) as my system evolved from mid level to higher level gear.  (Odyssey pre and amps, Magnepan 1.7i, then to Pass Labs, Focal 1038be2, cable upgrades, now to my current Scala Utopias).
He has always enjoyed coming into my listening room to hear how the songs he knows so well (from his earbuds and Bluetooth speakers), sound on my system, as well as discovering new music together.  He is hooked, to say the least, and I have given him the gear I have moved up from, for him to enjoy in his own space once he has graduated from University.  He said this is important to him and he values the degree to which high end audio can deliver.  He looks very much forward to the day when he can hook up the components he has inherited! 
I would agree with the poster who said,  'they don't know it until they hear it'.  This is very true as most of his friends haven't been exposed to high quality audio equipment, but when they have a listen, they hear what it has to offer and it does make an impression.  What they choose to do with that will depend on their income, lifestyle and many other factors.  
So perhaps it is best for those who seem to worry that HEA is dying, to listen to their systems with young people, but listen to THEIR music, not yours, and you just might find you've helped to create the next generation audiophile.
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