Future of this hobby?

Older people can also afford stuff younger folks getting started or paying student loans can't.Reminds me of the debate on Clasical and Opera debates.Back in the 50's when Glen Gould said something within earshot or a repoter it neded up in Time magazine or when Bernsteins interpetation caused such furor it would spill over to the Times letters section for days or weeks.well thos days are over to be replaced when P-Didddy's entourgae/bodygurad shoots up a night club.Who know maybe all this crappy MP3 stuff and Ipods listening will kill Hifi but not entirely.Ther will always be somebody sekking a better mouse trap for one of our most primal needs.I am currently amazed by how many hi-end companies there are out there and maybe there are too many.I am further amazed when a company like McIntosh stays intact and doesen't become a Marantz.And cripes maybe it's not sucha bad thing.I want more vinyl but maybe SACD's hagve just about caught up.What I don't want is one more (or 5 more next week new companies that further confuse my Pea brain can handle because professionals are bought off and civilians on epinion.com or C.net put there money down and want to justify how much brain power they have.Over at Epinions and other consumer sites every poduct get's a 4.83 or 4.72 out of 5 and it drive me nuts which is a short trip indeed.
Chazzbo

I am afraid there has been a huge paradigm shift. The real question is the younger generation concerned about the quality of play back. The answer is no . Many of you have said this wasn't the case 20-30 years ago either. Nothing could be further from the truth. There were always cheap smaller even portable ways of getting music into life 30 years ago. BUT when I was in college your receiver and speakers and sources were a very important status items the helped define you as much as the car you drove. It was clearly very different. The quality counted. Now what I sense is happening in this hobby is that it is going through simply a momentary fad for the most materialistic consumers who have found this as a niche to enjoy music. I fear it will lose its appeal even to the small group that enjoys it now. As far as music in general goes despite the popularity of the ipod, both my kids have one, they don't seem to care as much as we did about music. Brick and mortar stores are all claiming that they won't be able to survive and some forms of music are becoming almost extinct classical for instance. Sure there are schools famous for it but the audiences are virtually all octegenarians. There are very few people my age, mid forties, that listen and new software a real rarity even on our coveted websites. What's happening now is the last fits of life kicking away but it is only a small group of us that make high end. We really do look like we have 2 heads to most people. I wonder exactly how many people actually visit this page regularly. It seems like the same people visit the forums usually a few hundred per thread even if that's a fraction of the total who look for the auctions or to buy and sell were talking a couple of thousand in a country of over 300 million (I know not everyone has web access). I think we are actually at a high point as I said before. I hope I wrong but I am the only audiophile in my workplace of several thousand that I know of.

I'm afraid Mechans makes much sense -- even though I hope the future obeys to Sugar's predictions...

There's a significant shift in the "reason why" behind hi-end buying decision. Before it was "better sound". Better sound doesn't seem to justify a purchase anymore...
After all, much of sound creation, storage, & reproduction, is digital. From digital unto digital: difficult to tell what is "bad" or "better"... I mean, now you can easily process a recording to sound "good" on an average set-up or target the I-pod's spectrum & tailor the recording for that...

Also, many people look at audio-visual -- rather than just "blind" audio...

Maybe, if hi-end becomes a "lifestyle" purchase there may be a resurgence.
Even better, sugarbrie is right & I'm being pessimistic.

There are still some younger people who are into the hobby. It's just rather expensive to get into. I am 26 and got my college roomie Bcos17, who is 25, into the hobby.

I do think, however, that there is a movement toward smaller setups and gear that serves dual purposes. The younger generation did not grop up on viynl for the most part. They grew up with CDs and DVDs so I don't think it's any big surprise that the industry has moved more in that direction.

I think most young people are fairly ignorant as to what good sound really is. Many think loud equals good. Many are rather impatient too (instant gratification generation) and are unwilling to take the time to figure out what combinations of equipment are good, how to set the speakers up properly, and set the room up correctly to maximize the sound.

Regardless, listen to the recording quality of many of the "top 40" hits and I think it's easy to understand why many younger people would have no interest in investing in better gear.

I am one of those 40 somethings that you guys are writing about. I would gladly purchase space in one of your audiophile assisted care facilities, providing I can still hear from the Alice Cooper shows I still go to.

Both of my boys have systems worth triple the amount of my first one. I am going to take this as a warning to make sure they don't fall away from this hobby.

Thanks for the wakeup call to arms.