Where are the young audiophiles?

teo_audio1,850 posts05-12-2021 9:06amblame it on digital. I do.

Digital is awesome. Blame it on Apple.

Like many have said, digital has had a major impact on Hi-Fi. Here's a real world example - My son is 31 years old. He seemingly had no interest in listening to his dad's "dinosaur" equipment. Instead he would stream music on his phone, even listening via the tinny built-in speaker. It's convenient, he can listen to anything he wants, and he can do it anywhere. 

The other day, I asked him to put on some of my Sennheiser headphones, plugged in a Schiit DAC to his phone, and he listened to some of his music. His response after about 30 minutes was "holy crap dad, I had no idea". He is musically inclined and started gushing over the "layers, tight bass, nuances, blah, blah...".

Over the next couple of days, he went into my listening room (fancy name for my finished basement) and listened to various combinations of my equipment with both vinyl and CD music. Now he's looking at buying some gear and vinyl. 

So it apparently has a much to do with education and listening than lack of appreciation. Back in the 70s, you had to listen to other music sources, today convenience and technology have removed the motivation to do so. I don't think Hi-Fi is dead by any stretch and a little time listening usually convinces even the most Twitter-oriented young person.

Back in the day, we had three choices of home entertainment - three TV channels, board games or audio. Today audio has to compete with way more sources of entertainment.

Americans spend $50 billion on video games per year. Some of that used to go to audio.

Youngsters do not dream of owning good sound.  Their video games do not require it.  Recently, a kid I know came by my house for something, and asked about old my stereo, B&W 893"s powered by Audire electronics (Phono Head amp, two Diffet 3 preamps, and three Audire Forte amps, the third for the subs.  After plying around for something he liked to hear, which turned out to be Pink Floyd, he looked amazed, and said, "Wow!  That is great.  I can't wait to get home to see how good it must sound on my iPhone."

The price of high end audio has passed beyond means of this boomer.   7500 dollars for a Dac? 1000 for the streamer  to boot.  I am a physician and when I started most docs had a high end system.  When I tried to sell my speakers only one physican had one.  The dealer said most of his customers now are ceo cfo lawyers and venture capitalists who just pick out what they want and pay for it