[dminches]

11.  All your favorite musicians are dead.

[Goosepond]

This would be a much better world if everyone were just like me!!!!!!

Gene

[sunnydaze]

Top 10 Reasons:

(snip)
2. A break from someone talking all the time, like a spouse
(snip)
10. Beats spending $30,000 on new cupboards

Ummmmm......let me guess......you're married, right?     

[mick wolfe]

In Munich, Richard Vandersteen confided in a mutual friend that he can no longer sell the speakers that made him famous. Nowadays the big dollar models are selling briskly but the 1b and 2c aren't moving at all.
I can't speak to the accuracy of those claims but my source is unimpeachable. It seems that the middle class has gone out of audio too.

I think it's more the case that 1b and 2c  have far more competition (and perhaps better options for some) at these respective price points. I don't think the middle class has left audio, but Vandersteen's piece of the middle class pie is most certainly smaller than before.

[ctviggen]

11.  All your favorite musicians are dead.

12.  Even if they aren't dead, it's difficult to see them in concert.

Most of the bands I like do not come to where I live. 

[bladesmith]

In Munich, Richard Vandersteen confided in a mutual friend that he can no longer sell the speakers that made him famous. Nowadays the big dollar models are selling briskly but the 1b and 2c aren't moving at all.
I can't speak to the accuracy of those claims but my source is unimpeachable. It seems that the middle class has gone out of audio too.

I guess he could have everything made in a small poverty stricken country and make it profitable enough to stay in business...
That's what most all companies end up doing...

[WireNut]

After 30+ years of buying/selling/trading equipment to finally get some nice 20 year old units that I really liked and could afford due to it's age, the most joy I get out of it now is when it's turned off over wise the cops show up. After all these years and thousands of dollars I've spent I sold my equipment off this year due to job loss. Funny thing is, I don't even miss it really, yeah some times I do. Now I enjoy watching Video more these days because I can watch and listen too. Hell I even watch concerts now on Qello from my own comfy chair.

Don't get me wrong, If I had the money I'd do it all over again and move someplace where the cops won't come if I turn it on, but that's just not possible anymore so I guess I'll just have to be happy with the TV which is a 1980"s model Sony Trinitron 27" CRT. 

Hell, I still love audio so much If I had 100 grand laying around I could spend it all on audio know problem. That won't happen for a dozen more lifetimes.

Shoot, My 22 year old daughter and her boyfriend whenever they would come over they could care less about my 6' tall speakers, tube pre, two huge amps, Active crossover.
They were both like "Yeah but we got I-phones". They could care less about Hi end audio. Times change I guess.

Maybe Hi-end audio is dying.

Hope you find a new moderator soon.

[KCLam]

Shoot, My 22 year old daughter and her boyfriend whenever they would come over they could care less about my 6' tall speakers, tube pre, two huge amps, Active crossover.
They were both like "Yeah but we got I-phones". They could care less about Hi end audio. Times change I guess.

Maybe Hi-end audio is dying.

Hope you find a new moderator soon.

It's quite sad that the younger generation is missing out so much pleasure now that they are given all the freedom and flexibility to listen to "music-anywhere"
My 27 year old daughter has a different thought; she believes that this freedom of "music-anywhere" makes people enjoy music less; that they are just "listening" and not "enjoying".
When she listens to the system at home, she does recognise the huge difference in the emotion, quality, space, depth...that a hifi system produces vs a pair of earphones on a smart phone.
She also believes that the audio dealers and the industry does not educate and does not promote hi fidelity well enough, even an awareness to educate the youth on what they are missing and perhaps aspire them to own a system when they reach a certain level of maturity  and income.
The youth of today need to take a multitask pause....and just learn to enjoy music at some point in time with real hi fi to know the difference.
If the trends towards ear phones continue, the human evolution will come to a point where Man will not have ears, but just 2 holes on both ends, and Man will be walking around with earphones stuck in both these holes....and ultra thin fingers through texting....

[JLM]

It's quite sad that the younger generation is missing out so much pleasure now that they are given all the freedom and flexibility to listen to "music-anywhere"
My 27 year old daughter has a different thought; she believes that this freedom of "music-anywhere" makes people enjoy music less; that they are just "listening" and not "enjoying".
When she listens to the system at home, she does recognise the huge difference in the emotion, quality, space, depth...that a hifi system produces vs a pair of earphones on a smart phone.
She also believes that the audio dealers and the industry does not educate and does not promote hi fidelity well enough, even an awareness to educate the youth on what they are missing and perhaps aspire them to own a system when they reach a certain level of maturity  and income.
The youth of today need to take a multitask pause....and just learn to enjoy music at some point in time with real hi fi to know the difference.
If the trends towards ear phones continue, the human evolution will come to a point where Man will not have ears, but just 2 holes on both ends, and Man will be walking around with earphones stuck in both these holes....and ultra thin fingers through texting....

+1

It's sad when we prefer a lonely/convenient/artificial version of real life to life itself.

[sunnydaze]

(snip)

Maybe Hi-end audio is dying.

Hope you find a new moderator soon.

Maybe?!!

Used gear has gotten soooooo hard to sell lately, compared to just 10 or 15 yrs ago.  Even really good stuff at great rock bottom prices.   To me, a less liquid and vibrant used marketplace is a  sure indication of shrinking demand and desire for the goods. 

It's definitely dying and will shrink into a tiny irrelevant niche when all us late baby boomers are gone.  If it's not there already.

[bluemike]

I agree selling pre owned stuff these days is hard work
Not sure if it's ever going to turn around - I have decided to just keep the stuff that does not sell even through I don't have the space

[WireNut]

Yes, but what do we do if we wanted an ARC LS25 now or in 10 years from now? I'd like to have one now but don't have the money. In ten years from now they will be impossible to find. I don't know, The new stuff isn't always better. It should be, but it ain't. At least I don't think so. IMO.

Sorry if I got off subject, I'm just aggravated.
 
Sorry to lose you as a moderator, but I understand.

Are the V'steen's not selling. Is this typical these day's?

Is it because young people are only interested in cell phones, MP3 players?

Is Hi- End Audio Domed?

 

[sunnydaze]

(snip)

Is Hi- End Audio Domed?

Dunno about domed, but I do believe it is doomed..........or more likely, relegated to a very small fringe.     

[JLM]

Maybe?!!

Used gear has gotten soooooo hard to sell lately, compared to just 10 or 15 yrs ago.  Even really good stuff at great rock bottom prices.   To me, a less liquid and vibrant used marketplace is a  sure indication of shrinking demand and desire for the goods. 

It's definitely dying and will shrink into a tiny irrelevant niche when all us late baby boomers are gone.  If it's not there already.

The involvements I've had with dealers/manufacturers (pieces $500 - $3300 range with associated accessories) in the past year have shown a great eagerness to discount and extend accommodations up front (no pressure applied).  So the overall audio market seems soft.

The market, if audio show demographics are any indicator, is centered squarely in the baby boomer generation (age 50- 70).  This is bad news on a long-term basis for any business. 

[rollo]

   I believe it is competition is the culprit for the lessor Vandies as well as the general economy. Salaries have stayed stagnet and those who have jobs are not full time or 40 hours any longer.
    Another issue is our Schools. Music appreciation class almost gone. Band restricted to Schools where the community buys the instruments. Shop class for electronics and wood making are as well a thing of the past.
    For me personally sitting in the dedicated room on a beautiful sunny day is blasphemy. Playing Golf or paddleball would be my preference. When the Sun goes down it is time to chill and enjoy my music.
     Maybe Manufactures could get into the school system at a science fair or auditorium day for a demo. Music reproduction and appreciation in our schools could offer a new admiration of Classical and Jazz as well as new music. Got me hooked 54 years ago trying to play a trumpet in Junior High.

charles

[dminches]

   I believe it is competition is the culprit for the lessor Vandies as well as the general economy. Salaries have stayed stagnet and those who have jobs are not full time or 40 hours any longer.
   

My guess is that the entry level Vandies were usually purchased by people in their 20s and 30s who are building their first systems.  The advent of portable digital music has killed that market.  People seem content to listen music in their house on the same equipment they listen to it out of the house.

[MttBsh]

I remember as a young boy hearing for the first time a live marching band. I'm sure they were nothing special, but in that moment, I knew the power and beauty of live music, and throughout my life, I have chased that almost magical experience.

Throughout the 70s I saw all of the great rock bands, and later developed a love for classical, jazz, bluegrass, you name it (with some obvious exceptions). I have evolved an audio system in my living room that sounds better than most live concerts I've attended and listening to it is one of the great passions in my life. I will retire next month and plan to spend some quality time listening. I recently married a younger woman who, like my first wife, is just as happy to listen to music on cable TV through the TV speakers - as is being attested to, most younger people are only interested the latest music that's trending, they are plugged into it but don't really LISTEN. They will never know the joy of sitting with the lights out, an ice cold martini in hand, listening to magnificent live music at high volume that turns my living room into a  concert venue with top notch acoustics, something that brings me real joy.

Matt

[MttBsh]

I forgot to mention - if it's encouraging at all - I just ordered a new DAC, a Schitt Yggdrasil, and they are backordered for at least a month. That's an indication that there is still SOME interest in high-end audio out there!

[sunnydaze]

I forgot to mention - if it's encouraging at all - I just ordered a new DAC, a Schitt Yggdrasil, and they are backordered for at least a month. That's an indication that there is still SOME interest in high-end audio out there!

Not necessarily.   Could be that production capacity is very low, and a handful of orders overwhelms them.

There will always be SOME interest in high end audio.  The issue is that the level of interest is waning over the years.

[DaveC113]

I forgot to mention - if it's encouraging at all - I just ordered a new DAC, a Schitt Yggdrasil, and they are backordered for at least a month. That's an indication that there is still SOME interest in high-end audio out there!

Schiit is mainly a headphone company, which is the one sector of the biz doing quite well.