Audiophiles: Dead or Dying?

[bluesman]

And I thought I was a crusty old curmudgeon 🤪

 

There’s room in the world for us all, nothing you’re saying is harmful or offensive, and you have a perfect right to your opinion.  I don’t even take issue with your expressing it here - after all, we’re all family on AS.

 

But........I think you’re wrong on many counts.  It’s not all trash.  Good small and inexpensive speakers abound and are selling like hot cakes.  The resurgence of vinyl is niche and split between those who recognize and enjoy the experience and those who consider the medium to be an integral part of their art.  Vinyl is not synonymous with audiophile - most records were played on simple, consumer level “record players” from their mass market debut until cassettes took over.  
 

Good audio cost a relative fortune before digital came along.  My Marantz 7c and 8 cost $500 in 1960. That’s $4k in today’s dollars.  My Thorens TD125 sold for about $300 in 1969, which is about $2300 today.  With my SME arm, a good cartridge (I forget which one I bought with it), and a pair of Rectilinear speakers, it was a $10-$12k system in today’s dollars, and it was far from the best at the time.  I can buy a complete system (yes - with speakers) today that sounds better for well under half of that.

 

3 hours ago, GUTB said:

Have you tried to educate modern "audiophiles" about the hobby?

Are you sure you’re not trying to educate modern audiophiles about the hobby as it was when my Thorens was new?  Evolution’s not a very social companion - either you go with her or she’ll leave you behind.  He (or she) who hesitates is lost.

[bluesman]

5 minutes ago, charlesphoto said:

For all the time and money I've put into my hifi systems, one of the best musical times in recent memory was dancing around my eight year old daughter's room to Queen's Greatest Hits played on a $50 Echo Dot. Priceless. 

And that Echo Dot sounds a lot better than the Motorola transistor radio I got for the same money in 1959!

[bluesman]

Oy! This thread reminds me of the poet who writes best after waking from a deep sleep.  He goes from bed to verse 🤑

[bluesman]

17 hours ago, ricko01 said:

to me being a real audiophile, no matter equipment level, means not only a passion for the reproduction chain but also a devotion to carving out time to listen exclusively to the system and not as a shared task while using say social media.

 

Social media killed the audiophile.

Listening to music was much more of a primary pursuit years ago than it is now.  I can't imagine how many thousands of hours I've spent enjoying my music and equipment, building and assembling my systems, introducing my friends to new music, and sharing their latest finds and treasures.  I still do this - but I'm fortunate to have a spouse and friends who continue to value this as time well spent.

 

Blaming social media is a bit simplistic. There's an awful lot more to do now than there was in 1960.  Home theater wasn't even a dream.  Games were played with sticks, balls, boards, dice, and other people who in the same room with us.  There were no RVs, 4 wheelers, drones, online gambling, etc.  Most people had one job with regular hours from which they usually got home on time, had dinner, and spent evenings and weekends doing a lot less than their next gen counterparts do now.  The only people who carried beepers were true first responders, and the only mobile phones were incredibly expensive, bulky, hard wired and mounted to your car, and available only to those with proven need from a long waiting list. As a surgeon, I waited a year for my IMTS number, then in 1982 got a huge Motorola bolted into my trunk for $4k.

 

Most of the people walking around with ear buds sprouting from their heads are listening to music - but as you point out, it's just not in the center ring for them.  People have changed because life has changed.  There's too much to do, it costs too much, and they work too long and too hard to try to get all the stuff they think they need.  Kids have such busy schedules they need secretaries, and everybody thinks he or she can do more than they really can with any level of competence.  At least they're still listening to music of some kind, even if it's just another activity.

 

The audiophile isn't dead - he or she simply evolved or mutated, depending on your point of view.  In the immortal words of Walt Kelly......

 

[bluesman]

43 minutes ago, John Dyson said:

Also, there is nothing wrong with a nice wood finish.

Wood?  What's that?