@audiotroy Dave, leaving aside the costs and challenges of the typical hotel show, the niche nature of quality audio has long been an issue--the people who attend are typically people already engaged; the difficulty of introducing "normal citizens" to the hobby has existed as long as I have been involved in the hobby (which is pretty long).
Add to that- hi-fi is not an aspirational product -- I can see "guys" going to a car show to lust after some high priced iron (well, now it’s mostly plastic) as a "thing to do" but hi-fi? I think the checklist of essentials that included a good stereo went out with the waterbed.
This has been the challenge of the industry forever- and I don’t think it is necessarily linked to high prices (by audiophile standards). Someone not terribly interested in the field isn’t going to find a 5k total system price attractive-- even though that would seem to be budget pricing- when they can buy some pod with streaming and a few cheap little better than desk top speakers for what? A grand or less? (Apple Store type stuff). People will spend that money on a phone, though..
Add to that- hi-fi is not an aspirational product -- I can see "guys" going to a car show to lust after some high priced iron (well, now it’s mostly plastic) as a "thing to do" but hi-fi? I think the checklist of essentials that included a good stereo went out with the waterbed.
This has been the challenge of the industry forever- and I don’t think it is necessarily linked to high prices (by audiophile standards). Someone not terribly interested in the field isn’t going to find a 5k total system price attractive-- even though that would seem to be budget pricing- when they can buy some pod with streaming and a few cheap little better than desk top speakers for what? A grand or less? (Apple Store type stuff). People will spend that money on a phone, though..

