High End Audio-Gaining Higher Ground?

Mapman, It's hard to believe, but true.
I sell records/CDs 96%/4%. CDs hardly ever sell at all.

I think most oung people get their music online these days.

Little reason for most to buy CDs anymore.

CDs have always been an inferior product to own in terms of overall utility due to the small packaging. Now, most digital music is had online.

For something to hold and look at as well as listen to, 33 1/3 has always remained the best.

For digital, new music servers and services are starting to add content that helps enrich the digital listening experience over what you get with a CD. I've started using PLEX and like it a lot. Supports high res video and music streams and formats for good sound quality to boot.

"40 years ago, most people listened to the radio and records on a cheap Soundesign or similar integrated stereo made in Japan that cost maybe a couple hundred dollars max.

It sounded like crap!"

Mapman; I have to disagree with you here. 40 years ago, I remember listening to the music and was totally not concerned at all with the equipment. I thought the music I liked was wonderful and can't remember one time saying to myself that the music sounded like crap because of the equipment.

If the music was good, then it was good and appreciated for what it was. I do believe that sometimes we are so caught up in the equipment that we just forget to listen. I was a violinst (first chair), played sax, oboe, bassoon, etc. and I can tell you that I know how music is supposed to sound. Instruments especially. However, I have no idea what the sound recording engineer actually recorded or how that person intended the recording to sound. So, I am using my judgement in listening to the recordings. But, it would be interesting to have the acutal recording engineer sit in one's home and listen to the playback of their actual recording and see and talk about their reaction. That would be interesting. I have been in live unamplified concerts in large venues in great seats and the music was unfocused, and I couldn't place the performers with my eyes closed. So, live unamplified music can also be the wrong metric. So, my point is that it depends on the intent and ear of the recording engineer, the venue, and most especially, what the listener is actually doing and what they want. You really don't hear younger people complaining much about the sound quality of their equipment or their music. They, like us 40 years ago are simply enjoying their music. However, they have money for beats headphones that don't compare at all to others like grado, etc. at the same price. They wear $150 basketball shoes and have no intention or ability to play basketball. They do it because of peer pressure, and fashion. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I see advertisements for beats for younger people, but I really don't see advertisements for grado, or other "high end" products trying to attact younger customers. I believe that arogance is one aspect of this industry that pushes younger people away.

enjoy

Minor,

My point is that the gap between sound quality achieved by most today is much better than it was back then. The quality or desirability of the music itself is a different thing and not really relevant to the point.

Top notch home audio sound quality has probably improved as well, but I suspect not nearly as much. Therefore, the gap has narrowed between the sound most have and the sound a choice few who care most have. That works against high end audio achieving any higher ground than in the past in that there is probably less to gain, if one cares about sound quality that is.

High end audio is often accused of excess hype and unsubstantiated claims of sound quality. I think that is part of the game that High End Audio must play in order to help justify its existence these days in that there is probably an absolute limit to just how good anything can sound in an objective sense, though the best sound is always harder to achieve on a larger scale ie when larger rooms rooms to fill are involved.

$150 for great quality shoes or sneakers (regardless of speciality) is not a lot at all and much better and wiser spent money than $15k wire for sure.