Are you too old to be an audiophile?

I don't think you ever get too old to tell someone else what they listen to sucks. Isn't that the real audiophile hobby? ;-)

There is alot more to audio and music than hearing that last one or two Kh . As you get older you learn how to appreciate things that you couldn't when you were younger . My hearing may be down a bit but my enjoyment and love of music is up ten fold .

the hobby is about what one buys, not what one hears. you don't have to be an audiophile to be passionate about music.

I am a 58 y/o audiophile, have poor hearing, always have, yet I enjoy my system. When I hear someone sit down and play a piano or any instrument, that is my base line hearing of what a real piano sounds like to me.

Now when I listen to different stereo equipment, cables, tubes, I can hear differences (soundstage, depth, imaging, coloration, etc...) I can tell what equipment, doing A/B comparison, sounds the most like my base line hearing of a real piano. Isn't that what it’s all about?

The "scientific fact" that my/our hearing isn't what it used to be is actually fairly complex. Some relatively young persons have degraded hearing in consequence of prolonged or frequent exposure to rock concerts, jack hammers, and so on. Genetic differences, pathogens, and a variety of other factors and circumstances may also account for hearing differences. So the aging process -- still imperfectly understood -- is not the only variable (or set of variables)that ought to be considered insofar as "hearing" is concerned. And, as some of the posts suggest, the matter of "enjoyment" is even more complex (and, I think, hopeful).