[BrysTony]

From many of the comments that I read on this forum I suspect that our age is much older than the population as a whole.  I thought it would be interesting to find out if that is true and this offers a way to do it anonymously.  Please participate and let's see what the answer is.

Tony

[Phil A]

Just don't ask the question next year as I move into another category

[low.pfile]

no bryston here but had to fill in the 40-49 option...45

[HsvHeelFan]

4B-ST owner here.  I'll be 50 next month.   I bought my 4B-ST the 3rd Saturday in September 2001.

HsvHeelFan

[SHV]

Chronologically 67, mentally ummm, maybe 25.  Same interests as 40 years ago.  Cars, motorcycles, audio gear, cameras and a few wives over the years.

Steve

[1oldguy]

Just don't ask the question next year as I move into another category

No Worries Phil....Music played using Bryston Gear will keep you young forever.

[1oldguy]

Moving into a new Decade in less than a Month.I went with the older option.

[eclein]

I'm 53.3 years old just like the result in that age category...LOL....great idea...

[DaveNote]

For the sake of the future of the high end market, I hope this poll is not representative of the high end market generally. If it is, then manufacturers face a gloomy prospect of serving an aging customer base. On the other hand it would not be surprising if it were.

First, when this aging group were young, they were in the middle of a robust audio market - lots of audio stores, different music industry tastes, formats, and delivery systems.

Second, this aging group probably has the savings necessary to buy upscale products that young groups don't.

Third, the younger aging cohort grew up in an MP3/iTunes world where sound quality was not a priority.

Anyone have other/different ideas?

Dave

[David C]

I am in the high % catagory. As to the younger crowd and hi end gear. My 21 yo son is just off the uni and with my relocation from the UK back to the US I gave him my Arcam integrated amp and a pair of B&W CM7 speakers that had been my UK stereo. Just moved him in and he and his friends love it and now dislike thier mp3 stuff  compared to red book.... so I think exposure to better gear is the answer.

[zybar]

Just cracked the 40-49 category back in January.

However, I have been enjoying this hobby since my mid-twenties.

George

[alexone]

no problem at any age...Bryston keeps up the youth in me

al.

[Laundrew]

"For the sake of the future of the high end market, I hope this poll is not representative of the high end market generally.

Dave

Interesting comment Dave 

I believe that the "Golden Era" in North America is slowly coming to an end. Our economy is transforming from a manufacturing base into a services based philosophy and let's face the simple facts that these jobs are not very high paying. Judging from the poll, it looks like the "over forty" crowd is the lion's share here and you would expect this age group to have more disposable income as their major debts should be gone, for example, no mortgage.

Governments and also, many people are living "Champagne Lifestyles" on a beer budget and this catches up to you very quickly. What little disposable income that they may of had is used to service their debt. It is going to be very interesting when the middle class can no longer shoulder the load, it seems that the gulf is widening between the "haves" and "have nots." Let them eat cake?

Young people just starting out are going to have their hands full trying to keep a roof over their heads and decent food on the table over the next few decades. One of Lady Laundrew's friends is working two jobs just to make ends meet and please believe me that her friend does not live a lavish lifestyle. I listen to some individuals whom are mortgaged up to the eyes and are dreading any interests rate increases. The next few years are going to very interesting (unfortunately) as I can see a few nations "hit the wall" with respect to their debt issues. I just think that the way the economy is going, there is not going to be a lot of money to spend on toys 

Be well...
       

[DaveNote]

Couldn't agree more, Laundrew. But I'm not sure that there is a qualitative difference between what younger people are experiencing now and what people now in their sixties experienced 20 and 30 years ago. I remember having a tough time make ends meet with a growing family, and didn't pay off the mortgage until we were well into our forties, when, thereafter, building savings became possible. If there is a difference, it likely is quantitative and the causes may be two-fold: (1) the level of debt relative to income may be higher now for younger people and (2) there may be less determination and fewer resources to get out of debt. But your overall point about the Golden Era surely is absolutely correct - middle class incomes have stagnated, making it all the less likely that people under 50 are going to be in as comfortable a position that fortunate people in their sixities now find themselves. That spells a smaller future market for the high end audio business. Perhaps we're already seeing the inevitable result - higher unit costs for our gear. But I'm no economist, or businessman, so even I must take this assessment with a grain of salt.

Dave

[Stu Pitt]

35 years old.  I've been enjoying this hobby since about 22 or so.  Wanted a great stereo for as long as I can remember, but started to figure out what a great stereo really entailed at around that age.  My mentor in college practically gave me an NAD 304 integrated amp and helped me understand how everything worked in a system - what to look/listen for, speaker placement and setup, etc.

Bought my first Bryston (B60) second hand about 4 years ago.  Only way I'll ever part with it is when my daughter leaves the nest.  She's 9 months old, so I've got a while.  I may move up the Bryston line in the future, but the B60 will always be around in a system somewhere in the house.

[BobRex]

I'm also in the high percentage group.  Started when I was still in high school, eventually did retail for 20 years, during the "silver age" of hi-fi.  (I look at the late 50's into the early 70's as the golden age, with the mid-70's through the 90's as the silver age.)  Yeah, it does appear that this is an old man's hobby, and given the skyrocketing prices, that's almost to be expected. 

The irony is that many (most?) of us are listening to the music of our rebellious youth (rock and roll will never die!!!!) while becoming more established and more conservative (you kids get off my lawn, dagnabbit!)

[Elizabeth]

As the thread slides off into other territory..
Plenty of younger people are interested in music and listening to music.
Just thier idea of how it should be done is not the same as the old method.
So i definitely count all those MP3 player users as music lovers.
Then as they add computer playback. gradually they may want to hear them with some better stuff. And again, that may not be in the way the old stereo users think of.
So i have no doubt that music apprciation is here to stay. just the forms the hardware take may differ.
And, possibly, just like the growing interest in retro owning a turntable.. other old fashioned audio things may get boosts here and there.

Golden age 1950's to early 1970s. Silver age the 1970's to late 1980s.. Then the rise of the Diamond age, late 1980s to current, where big money rules. And a stereo can cost a half million bucks... a cable can be the cost of a GOOD new car..

[jjc1]

For the sake of the future of the high end market, I hope this poll is not representative of the high end market generally. If it is, then manufacturers face a gloomy prospect of serving an aging customer base. On the other hand it would not be surprising if it were.

First, when this aging group were young, they were in the middle of a robust audio market - lots of audio stores, different music industry tastes, formats, and delivery systems.

Second, this aging group probably has the savings necessary to buy upscale products that young groups don't.

Third, the younger aging cohort grew up in an MP3/iTunes world where sound quality was not a priority.

Anyone have other/different ideas?

Dave

When I was young and first started listening to music, we only had AM radio. Talk about Low Rez! But as I got older, newer Audio equipment hit the scene which sounded so much better and many of us got the "HI-FI" bug. Hopefully the younger generation will come around to better sounding music and equipment. But it is up to us to show and lead the way. Just a few days ago I had my son-in-law listen to a recording that my daughter had made and which I downloaded to a flash drive. I played this for him thru the BDP and his immediate reaction was, "Gee, it sounds like she is right here in the room".  Hopefuuly he'll begin to realize what his music can really sound like and get the bug. But I do agree, it's a long, hard road for our passion.

[95Dyna]

Just slipped from the largest group to one less than half its size by turning 60 in March.  Unlike my new demographic my interest and enjoyment is at an all time high.  I thank God everytime I fire up the big box that my hearing has remained sharp.  It's frustrating at times when my peers can't hear the higher frequency subleties the system can produce.

[jjc1]

Just slipped from the largest group to one less than half its size by turning 60 in March.  Unlike my new demographic my interest and enjoyment is at an all time high.  I thank God everytime I fire up the big box that my hearing has remained sharp.  It's frustrating at times when my peers can't hear the higher frequency subleties the system can produce.

  New digital hearing aids are great to recapture all the frequencies which deteriorate over time. I took the plunge 3 years ago and the difference in the music is astounding. I consider the $2,000 + for the hearing aids one of the best "components" to my system I have ever purchased. I cannot listen to my system without them. Like the old cliche, a vail is literally lifted from the music. I hear instruments that I haven't heard in years. You don't know what you are missing until you try them. As the Mags say, Highly Recomended.