Audiophiles: Dead or Dying?

[charlesphoto]

It's a hobby - some will be into it and others won't. 

 

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. 

[charlesphoto]

18 minutes ago, bluesman said:

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

 

No kidding! They are impressive little things - perhaps not for appreciating the individual details of an orchestra, but for something like Queen totally hits the spot. 

[charlesphoto]

12 hours ago, tapatrick said:

But where are the numbers? When I was in my 20's it was a cultural phenomenon to sit around with friends listening to and sharing albums on 2 speaker systems. We sought out where the good systems were and got ourselves invited round. 

 

Funny this - it points out cultural differences towards music and hifi even in the past. When I was in my twenties, I can't recall once anyone talking about or comparing hifi gear - we were all too busy making music or going to shows (we're talking 1984-1994 and admittedly my friends were the likes of Mudhoney, Soundgarden, etc). Getting together and comparing records, yes, of course, but really no considerations to how they sound - esp since most were pretty poorly recorded in the first place, so it really didn't matter. A hifi setup usually consisted of a Japanese receiver of some sort, Technics turntable (maybe a Dual or equivalent as well) and Advent or Speakerlab speakers. Louder was the key element = get the party started right! Often bought used at the local Naim dealer, Hawthorne, who are still there (bought my 160 BD from them last month). Thing is, very few of us had any disposable income so never even bothered with the rooms on the right hand side of the store where all the Naim etc gear resides. 

 

So in a nutshell, we cared deeply and passionately about music, but I and most of my peers gave little thought to the actual delivery of it, and I suppose this is much like the youth of today.