High End Audio-Gaining Higher Ground?

There will always be a market for good music and good sound.

What constitutes "good" though will always vary widely and be mostly a matter of personal opinion. There is little concrete to support the case that high end audio is "better", but there is no doubt some will have very high standards compared to others yet each will still slay the beast their own way, usually on a limited budget.

So things like cost, efficiency, scale, features ALL matter. Just differently to different folks. The stereotype audiophile is truly a dinosaur, set in the ways of the past while the world changes around them. No kid wants that. Maybe when they get older, and listening habits change, some might come around a bit.

My daughter plays violin in school orchestra and has a fantastic ear for music. My son loves things unique and of good quality. Both listen to music often. NEither could give a rat's arse about my toys, as best as I can tell. Nobody but me even has any clue how to work it all.

No. High End Audio is not gaining Ground. High End Audio was never better. just different. Folks just tried to chase the sound of yesterday with aging hearing problem. I'm one of them.
Young adult have better ear for all sound of music, they are enjoying the music of today going forward.
There is no different between audio and video technology. They all get better yearly.

High End Audio IS a total dead end. The ony way it can go forward is to DIE.
The current crop of high end manufactures sell to an ever decreasing crowd of old fools.
Eventually the last old fool will die, aand so will high end Audio.
What young people do may eventually be the equal of High end Audio, but not in the form it is now.
Some of the manufactures may survive who also are suppliers in the music industry. All the rest will vanish.

Hi end audio will always be around. How many times have you all heard it was going to go the way of the large reptiles of eons past? and yet it is still here. The same is said about high end cars, art work, furniture, etc. Just because a few kids and a lot of adults don't know or care doesn't mean it is going away. As the statement says, you typically get what you pay for. There will always be someone that goes to a concert, either amplified or unamplified, purchase the music, take it home and state that it sounds like crap. Not all the time, but it does happen. Then that person will want to know why and guess what? That is how it starts. Make it less expensive? sure why not? but, I believe that audio equipment is just like the automobile industry. There are really low end cars, mid level cars, high end cars and stupidly high end cars. Just like audio equipment. Yet, Ferrari's, Porsche's, Mercedes SL 65's, etc. are still going strong. Why? many reasons. same as for high end audio. 1) Some people really know and appreciate what properly recorded music is suppose to sound like and will hunt for the equipment that will as accurately as possible reproduce that sound, 2) Some people just want the best period, even if they never listen to it. I'm sure there are many other answers to add. But all one has to do is look around. Clothes, well you can shop at Macy's, JC Penny's, H&M, Walmart, etc. But, if you can afford it and appreciate good quality clothing, well, what would you buy? Remember, I said, if you can afford and also "appreciate" Which some simply cannot. Do you appreciate a good quality watch? Have they stopped developing high end watches because people have cell phones? Absolutely not! Breitling, Rolex, Patek, etc. Are going strong. My point is that the audio industry isn't going away. It evolves like any other industry, but there will always be some out there that want that "real sound". Using quality machines, that aren't made of plastic, that do the job correctly. I have no problem with extremely expensive equipment. Same for houses, cars, watches, etc. I know what I can and can't afford, and what lifestyle I want. People find out this stuff as they grow, mature and learn, and if they don't, well....My daughter appreciates the difference between a Toyota and a Mercedes SL. She can see the cheap plastic, poor quality construction, etc. But, she also knows that you get what you can afford, until you can afford better. She's a dancer and is now 24 and has been dancing since she was 4. Ballet, Modern and Jazz. She would come into my listening room as a kid and not say a word and simply dance to my music. Wonderful. She went to college and came back listening to Jazz music and bringing friends over to listen to their music on my system so they could hear the difference. Sorry for the long response, but the industry isn't going away. Certain manufacturers may, and the state of the art will continually improve. Hopefully, so will my income so that I can buy those darn Audio Research REF 250 amps. Anyway, sit back and enjoy

I have to ask - when you guys talk about "high end", what exactly does that mean? I'm not asking to be argumentative, I'm asking genuinely, as I've seen these types of discussions but I don't know how to put them into perspective. Does "high-end" mean $10,000 systems? $50,000? $100,000? I completely appreciate that the answer is going to be nebulous, and may mean different things to different people, but there has to be some kind of baseline...where, once you spend $xxxx, you are officially "high end". I'd like to contribute to the thread, but need to understand the lay of the land first, so to speak.