Barriers to Hi-Fi

[firedog]

In general, the vast majority have never been willing to spend big sums on audio, even when "everybody had a system". Most people had fairly basic systems from mass marketers of some type. If they were "serious" they had some actual money invested in something better, like a high end receiver , etc. But most people had something modest by our standards, even in the heyday of home audio. The difference between then and now was that people listened to LPs and CDs and not mp3, so even on a modest home system it sounded pretty good. 

 

There never has been much real interest in the high end. There used to be interest in good mid-fi, when it made sense to many people in the context of a central home system. 

 

And let's not be too snobby and elitist. A good pair of Audioengines sounds better than the mini-Advent, little Kenwood amp, and Pioneer turntable I had in high-school and college. And that was considered a "good" starter hi fi system for someone interested in audio. At university graduation I bought a Dual turntable, a pair of Kef speakers, and a higher end Yamaha receiver. In today's money, adjust the nominal price for inflation and you are probably approaching $10k. That was already way better and more expensive than what most people owned then - they would never have spent that much, no matter what their income.

I loved that system then; today I would think it sounds like crap (and I still have the speakers, so I know). A good pair of powered speakers today like Audioengines sounds better, and costs under $1000.  Add a decent but low priced sub and there really is no comparison. 

 

The personal audio, internet, and mp3 revolution  changed things. People now value convenience and ubiquity over everything else. Audiophiles are the exception. Most people think mp3 sounds fine (and it may, in fact, sound better than their  system from years ago); so once that decision has been made (when you value ubiquity and convenience), SQ takes second place.  At home they don't want a big system to sit in front of, they want wireless and multiroom. Not even necessarily stereo. Lifestyle audio. 

 

Once you've gone into the above mindset, spending more than a few hundred dollars on audio seems crazy to most people. And under their assumptions they are probably right.

 

There is, however,  a growing camp of people willing to spend relatively more  bucks on headphones, especially for portable audio, to get better sound and reduce environmental interference with their listening. The real hope for audiophilia is that this trend results in a demand for better sounding source material, and that some of these listeners eventually graduate to wanting a better sounding home system as incomes grow and lifestyles become more sedentary and more centered around larger homes and apartments than most younger people have. 

[firedog]

31 minutes ago, BigAlMc said:

Look at the Beats deal making Dr Dre a billionaire

Well Beats used to suck SQ wise; but apparently even they felt the market demand and have a couple of models that are good sounding. Maybe not as good as some "audiophile" models, but perfectly good and nothing to deride.

[firedog]

Agreed. For $1 or $2K you can get something with very high quality sound-most of the basic high end attributes other than very deep bass and the ability to play loudly/fill a large-ish space. The diminishing returns curve is very steep after that and you have to go to increments of $5k, $10K, and so on for small improvements. Once you reach even $10-$15k the very small additional improvements start costing astronomical amounts of money.

 

I have nothing against people who want to spend those amounts. But let's keep some perspective and admit that a well chosen but modest system in the audiophile world is still giving you fantastic sound, especially in a relative sense to lesser setups and historical setups.

[firedog]

14 hours ago, Shadders said:

High end uses same components as the lower costing equipment.

 

14 hours ago, Shadders said:

the same basic circuit topology as cheaper units. Nothing special.

 

Well, manufacturers that have posted here like Alex and the late Charles Hansen both have talked about how you can buy "the same" component in varying levels of quality. Cheaper ones that aren't as well made that don't last as long and don't have the same consistent level of performance, and more expensive ones that do perform to tight tolerances and last longer. 

There are also new designs on the market. Not everything is retread.