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Is this the end of HEA?

http://www.cepro.com/article/is_this_the_end_of_high_performance_audio_at_ces

This last year has made my ears perk up. Honestly I didn't even know the article above had been written until now. What I did know was listeners have been in touch with me about the future of HEA and their future as advanced listeners. It's been nice to see folks getting in touch with me and even nicer that they are doing so because they wish to settle into their final system sound. To say things in their words "it's been an expensive ride" and most of these folks aren't sure they've gotten a fair shake always from the hobby. Many feel they have bank rolled a part of a hobby that hasn't always delivered the goods. Basically instead of telling listeners that this is a variable hobby the "experts" pushed a very expensive game of component Plug & Play onto the discrete audio generation. I remember those days of guilt buying where a dollar amount was used as a representative for quality, when it meant no such thing. I knew first hand this was not the case as designers scrambled to make up-sell products that sounded less musical than the original products that put their name in audio fame. I also could see the HEA decline happening but still was giving the benefit of the doubt to those saying HEA was just fine and growing. Mom and pop stores for the most part have vanished in the US with the exception of a few creative thinkers. New expensive products are being adored but I don't see many actually buying them. Now I've got my eye on T.H.E. Show (Richard's show) and wondering if it's happening or not. Richard and I have talked many times about what will happen to HEA in the US if T.H.E. Show and CES cease doing their thing in Vegas. I wonder what Richard RIP is thinking now sitting in the clouds.

I am very excited to see the next few years come about even though I know some are still buying into the old paradigm that the HEA is the cutting edge with only a volume control to adjust and a fork lift included with every purchase. Going to the CES web, I have my answer for Vegas. Going to T.H.E. Show website I'm still in question. If these two are no more, in terms of HEA, who's next?

Michael Green

michaelgreenaudio
mahler123
633 posts
 
In reference to the OP, I think that it’s the CES show that’s the problem.  The author cites the high price of hotel rooms, the competition from other shows mainly European that have siphoned off attendees...
  I live in Chicago and have spent a day at Axpona each of the last 3 years.  There has been a venue change, some weather issues, but it appears that the show itself is thriving and busy, but then I am not sure what I should be comparing it with.
  There is unquestionably a generational change at work here.  The companies that will be relevant twenty years from now will have figured out how to make good sound matter to the world cf cell phone and tablet users and provide products that integrate well with those products.  It is possible that six figure components may disappear.  I think Multichannel Audio May make a comeback as wireless speakers improve and room equalizer apps that can be operated from cell phones become more ubiquitous.  Magazines such as TAS and Stereophile will probably become irrelevant as no one will be shelling for the kind of gear they push
sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
486 posts
 
@yyzsantabarbara I understanding your want to keep the scope open for anything that might be a pleasant surprise, but I’m not that flexible, possibly my loss. My opinion of rap has been soured by all the crime and posturing that has been promoted as a lifestyle by rappers, not to mention the form is aurally abrasive to yours truly. But, one man’s poison is another man’s pleasure, and you are certainly entitled to your choices. 
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 
Harry Pearson introduced the term "High End" to audiophiles. J. Gordon Holt preferred the term high performance; that's nothing new. Also not new is the concept of moderately priced-high value hi-fi. I know we live in an era of simplistic bumper-sticker slogans, but come on, man.
michaelgreenaudio's avatar
michaelgreenaudio OP
643 posts
 
I wouldn't know, I've never had a bumper sticker. Isn't that a 60's & 70's thing?
glupson
1,794 posts
 
Reading OP, I got the impression it is about High Cost Audio, not High End Audio, whatever the definition of High End Audio would be.

"Watching the pendulum swing from expensive, high mass and complicated back to simplicity, low mass and thoughtful is exciting."
This is really multi-layered thought. I think it is correct in the end.

iPhone, becoming a primary music source for many, is not exactly cheap and is only one source.

High mass, bulk, is definitely going away. Even very expensive components are these days often relatively small. It used to be, the heavier the better.

Complicated turning back to simplicity is true, when it comes to ease of use for the final user. It does not seem so simple when taking into account technology implemented for simple common, dare I say "most common", way people listen to music these days. I suspect there is way more sophistication and engineering/designing (pick your favorite word for "inventing" or similar to it) going into a miracle of music playing via Spotify, or an African Internet radio, on an iPhone than it is going into a nice old-fashioned system, even the heavy "over-engineered" one. Just my guess. It may be a mistake interchanging "smaller" and "simpler".

It may be a wonderful time to explore the music, but it is not because it is simpler deep inside. It is because it is much more complicated and many bright girls and guys made very complicated things simple for us to use. That is thoughtful, indeed.
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