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Future of this hobby?

I took some time off work, and I read the Jan edition of Stereophile cover to cover today. In the Letters to Editor section people were writing in about what will happen to this hobby as the target audience ages and the younger generation doesn't jump on board. I am 28, and I fear that the concern is definitely real. My friends, fiance, and people my age are in love with their Ipods. That is great that they are into listening to music in whatever manner they choose. My friends and fiance all agree that my stereo sounds good but also feel that stereos bought at discount retail stores fill the same need and have no interest in spending the extra cash.

Also, I went to a couple of Chicago Audio Society meetings to see if I could make some friends that shared my interest. I felt a little out of place though when I was the only person in the 20-30 demographic out of a population of forty people. Further, there may have been one or two people in their late 30s and probably half of the people were over 50.

The only conclusion I can reach on this subject is that lesser products are meeting the needs of people my age, and I don't forsee the younger generations waking up one day and deciding to sell the MP3 players so that they can buy high-end turntables. In 20-30 years as much of the current audiophile population ages and some move into assisted living or other arrangements where these elaborate and space consuming set-ups are no longer wanted or needed, the few remaining young people that actually care will be able to take ownership of kick-ass systems at steep discounts. I along with any kids that I have will have our cash ready in anticipation of that day.
firecracker_77

Showing 6 responses by tvad

tvad
9,467 posts
 
It occurs to me now might be the ideal time to begin developing and Audiophile Assisted Living Center.

Oh, and of course each room will have two dedicated AC circuits for analog and digital...and the breathing machines will be on a separate circuit, too.

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tvad
9,467 posts
 
I agree, Firecracker_77.

We are living during a massive paradigm shift in entertainment, akin to the move to home stereo from radio, and to the move from radio to television.

High end audio will continue to be enjoyed by an increasingly older demographic, until eventually the equipment becomes like collectible...like old tube radios.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
It occurs to me now might be the ideal time to begin developing and Audiophile Assisted Living Center. Someplace nice, like Ojai, California.

Just think of the activities: discussions about digital vs. vinyl, isolation techniques, and remote vs. manual adjustable beds. CD shuffleboard.

An audiologist on staff 24/7.

Eureka!
tvad
9,467 posts
 
The CD/DVD is not kill vinyl.
There will always be vinyl lovers, as you say.


This has always been a 35 year and older hobby.
Perhaps, although I will argue that the seed of interest was planted in me in my late teens and early twenties. This is no longer happening to our 15-21 year olds...especially when it comes to the Holy Grail of vinyl.

I'll bet the stereo high-end hobby now skews 40+, and is aging rapidly.


This hobby is actually still young.
Sugarbrie, I applaud your optimism, but you are whistling past the graveyard my friend.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
When I was a teenager forty years ago, I listened to records on my $15 columbia "system" with two speakers.

This statement perfectly encapsulates the crux of this issue, in my opinion. I also listened to two-channel music for hours and hours starting from when I was fifteen. I listened in my room on a dedicated system, and in so doing the experience of listening to a dedicated two channel system was made a part of my life experience.

Fifteen year old kids do not listen to two channel music today for hours and hours on dedicated stationary two channel music systems. They listen to two channel music on computer systems in their rooms, or on iPods, which are mobile listening systems intended primarily as background music scoring to other life experiences.

Young people experience music today in completely different ways than we did in our teens and twenties. This is the paradigm shift to which I refer in an earlier post, and this paradigm shift is precisely why dedicated two channel (and I would argue multi channel) music reproduction systems will never be a focus of the computer gaming/iPod generation.

However, this is not to say that music will not be an integral part of life for these kids. In fact, I would bet that whole-house, server-based music systems could be quite important to them, but this is significantly different than the two channel audiophile systems which are the primary focus of these forums and the audiophile hobby as it exists today.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Marco, thanks for the Audiophile Assisted Living Center marketing tip! :)

Regardless of the varied points of view on the topic of the future of the audiophile hobby (and it seems to me it'd be helpful to define the hobby in terms of two-channel or multi-channel)...the discussion is juicy. Thanks for the thread Firecracker_77.
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