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Is a stereo system a tougher sale to young people?

I have been listening to my Grado PS 500s lately and am being immersed in the tonal accuracy of these cans. I'm thinking if I had grown up with headphones as of todays audio generation it might be different. If I hear a good stereo I would critique it more and weigh the cost. True, back in the day, I'm 57 I would notice the articulate sound of cans. Todays headphones 🎧 do up the game quite a bit. What do you young people think? Do you think spending 10 times the cost of your headphone set up ( could include amp streamer and hi end cans) to approach the headphone sound is worth it? I get the 10x from Stereophile Lets say 2k investment in a headphone set up would equate to a 20k stereo setup. Now if you want loud deep accurate bass then maybe a little more. Let us hear your opinions.
128x128blueranger
mkgus's avatar
mkgus
324 posts
 
I think the older generations should try to help the younger generations realize how enjoyable a good 2-channel system is to have in their house. The easiest way to do that: let them listen to your high end systems and if they are interested, teach them how to build something similar but very affordable (much of the young generation has student loan debt on top of increasing cost of living with stagnant wages). I have tech savvy friends that don’t know how stereo sound works. When I play my system for them while they sit in the sweet spot, I have to explain “there is no center channel, that’s just stereo sound doing its thing.” Education is important. A good system doesn’t have to cost a lot and you can upgrade over the course of years to decades. 
kren0006
1,859 posts
 
Maybe it is that younger generations will always be most interested in leading edge technology, and while many of us were young high-end stereo sound could have been considered leading edge technology for the time, with advent of computers and smartphones and other stuff, it no longer is.

Everyone by definition these days has a smartphone, which includes ability to play music and take photos.  Although I'm not into photography, I suspect loss of interest in hi-end photography may decline coincident with that of loss of interest in hi-end audio.
jetter
2,952 posts
 
I think that todays inexpensive sources of music are better sounding than when we were kids.  So there is not a sense of missing out on that much with their gear.
jerrybj
843 posts
 
True Jetter

I had a Walkman tape player, with music recorded from my Dual turntable.
And the headphones were flimsy, to say the least.

If I ran with it, the tape would move around, as would the music!
gosta's avatar
gosta
839 posts
 
They want to see movies, play games and listen to music on their mobiles. So give them the best equipment to experience sound those ways. Will also interest their friends. They just can’t sit down in front of two speakers and do nothing (like our wifes...)
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