HiFi lacking social recognition?

Today, home theater is the draw. Customers go in to buy the TV, and many are made aware that there is a whole hierarchy of audio components. They understand that they are not buying the high end, but they now know it exists, and that there is something there, and there are people (us) who are enthusiastic about it and can tell the difference.

If only this was true for the majority but I seriously doubt it. I think HT and to a lesser extent Ipod are creating a distance between average consumers and audiophiles. My turn to look back and be a bit nostalgic:
30 yrs ago I accompanied my Dad to buy his first real stereo system. There were no Best Buy or similar to go to, the local TV-stereo store was the only place to go. He bought a 4-piece Harman Kardon, a Technics TT equipped with the famous "Concord" cartridge and a pair of big Cabasse. I did not realise but he paid today's equivalent of $20,000 for his gear. Not because he knew exactly what he was buying but because he liked what he listened to and could afford it.
Last Xmas, I came back home and the system was gone - in a box in the attic. He told me he had contacted a salesguy he knew in the new larger local equivalent of Best Buy to find out if/how/where he could get his preamp and amp checked as he had lost one channel. The guy told him that "separates are a thing of the past" and that for the price of fixing his old pre he could sell him a HT receiver that would do it all. He is now running his pair of legendary Cabasse with a $200 5.1 Sony receiver. As he is getting older he thinks his hearing is not as sharp as before and that it does not matter to him anymore - all of his friends have HT receiver anyway so it cannot be bad.
My point is: had he still be able to contact the now closed small shop he bought his gear from 30 yrs ago, he would still have his HK system and his friends would at least know that there are hifi separates out there. But when all you see on flyers inserted into your daily newspaper is HT systems and all you see in the streets is flashy neno-sign for big electronic dept stores, you end up thinking that separates are gone. Unless you are a geek like most of us around here, and sick.

So many more things calling for our disposable income, or even the lines of credit people can line up. Some people want to buy an excellent version of everything, most pick and choose. I never have any trouble finding something that a friend who thinks I'm nuts with my audio expenditures is spending on that I'd never consider.

Audio has just not kept up with the times, or marketed itself very well. People will pay for quality - there are examples around us every day. I have many friends who love listening to music at my house and mistakenly assume that they have to spend a lot to get great sound. I'm constantly trying to emphasize that you can get much, much better sound than the Sony receiver class equipment for not that much more money. Occassionally somebody listens :-)

I don't see any lack of interest in music, though. That is alive and well.

Neither building ships in bottles nor model trains made the Forbes list. Ever seen a grown man playing with his trains while wearing an engineer's cap? I have...

Buck up 'phools.

As I write this, I am listening to the Goldberg Variations performed by Murray Perahia from beginning to end and am again mesmerized. One issue is that there will always be music lovers, but most people will not take the time to listen to anything from start to finish these days. Therefore, appreciating music and doing so on a good system will never make any popular list. Another issue is that technology and ipods, as Beheme says above, have placed a distance between average consumers and audiophiles. If you can get excited about putting 3,000 songs of compressed quality on a device that lets you stay on the go and not ever have to sit down and really listen, then you will never know that your missing anything. I'm afraid that it will be more and more quantity over quality, and those that really take time to listen will be more and more the exception... nevertheless, the Goldbergs(and all music) will always have the potential to mesmerize anyone who will really listen.
John

When the iPod first appeared, my initial reaction was, there goes the high end. But now that I have one and use it on business trips, I believe that in the long run there will a resurgence of the audio business as younger people begin to make expendable income. At least those who care about music will pay enough attention that they will eventually want something that sounds good for dedicated home listening. Hey, the blank cassette tape format was supposed to destroy the LP industry, that didn't happen. And for recordable DAT and CDs, same thing, the music industry is in the pooper these days because of promotion of music that doesn't even qualify as wallpaper, and because of independent musicians that make good music in an independent fashion and then, as required the industry, self produce their art before they are recognized. Long gone are the A&R guys. I am hopeful and I think the iPod will evolve more toward the best that audio has to offer. There are enough of us out here to perpetuate our interests and share them with others. People will always be drawn to that which is good and fullfilling. There's only so much partying you can do.