Do you think this hobby is dying ??

[wu6fiend]

I wouldn't say "dying" per se, but definitely becoming more and more a niche hobby. I can recall that when I was young (I'm in late middle age), everyone had home stereos. Now, hardly anyone does, and if they do, their stereo is basically an extension of their tv. Music, if played at all, is usually via an iPhone. I regularly go to a vintage stereo store near me, and I've been struck by often I'm the youngest person in the store (many customers are in their 60s or even older). If not for eBay etc., my options around here for gear (except for Best Buy stuff) would be extremely limited. And I noted that recently BB redid their sales floor, giving even more space to the tv's. Any stereo gear is confined to the back corner, and more and more speakers are sound bar type.

 

[HTHMAN]

Sure it is dying. Gone are the days that we went to the Hi-Fi shops and looked at and listened to rooms full of equipment. The focus today is surround sound and portable music. We have no room in our homes for a good stereo system. When I was young, we had a 12" black and white TV and a stereo setup with massive speakers. Now that space is taken up with a massive flat screen TV. A lot of people are even satisfied with a soundbar if they want to upgrade the sound. We recently moved into a new house to downsize. My dedicated listening room has now been relegated to a corner of the basement and I have not yet hooked my stuff back up, My kids are not interested in my stuff, so when I am gone, I am sure it is not far behind. I will continue to enjoy it. It brings back a lot of memories, but it is not the future.

 

[Chris Brown]

that is done because there aren't any brick and mortar stores. it's a direct result.

It's a "direct result" of people who always want lower prices. If brick and mortar stores could offer lower prices than online stores, people would buy there instead, guaranteed. Rent costs, etc, mean that is almost never the case. People don't ignore brick and mortar stores because they don't like them or because they prefer shopping online. People usually love shopping at brick and mortar stores, just not as much as they love saving money. They go there, see everything, get advice from employees, decide what they want to buy, then leave the store and buy it online instead.

People didn't start buying online because they had no other choice. There was a choice, and the choice was made.

 

[will1960]

Dying? I believe it's just the opposite.

"If you're not evolving, you're dying" Marcus Lemonis

I'm 57, and have been a music, and equipment lover since I was a kid. My 25 year old son is really into music, but he's much more in tune with iTunes, Spotify, iPads, iPhones, and portability. When I would visit him at a major U.S. university, every single person you walked by in the quad, on the street, in the Starbucks, had headphones, or earbuds attached. So the love of music is still there, it's just delivered to this generation in a different form. My guess, is as this new generation makes their mark on the world, raises their families, and generate some excess, spendable income, they too will be yearning for better quality audio presentation. This may well be in the form of music servers, wireless speakers, and things I can't even imagine at this time, but the love of the music will keep the hobby alive.

Our generation has seen the beginning and end of the 8-track cartridge, cassette tape, CD, Vinyl, etc. While vinyl has certainly stood the test of time, and made a nice comeback, the equipment industry has evolved with the end of each format, and made a living on the next "latest greatest".

Long live our beloved audio hobby!!!

 

[roadie1]

I don't think it's dying as much as it is just getting caught up in the times in which we live. Years from now what we cherish, hear and see today will be the vintage of it's day. I guess what I'm saying it will be caught up in sort of a progression. I'm going on 60 years old and on my last buying spree. That's why my last buying spree was the best I could afford. I want it to grow old with me.

All the Krells, and Harbeths and Regas will be the "old stuff". Just like what we have now for say....ummm transportation
and so many, many more facets of our lives. It's just progress. Whether I like it or not, it's here.

Hell, I don't figure I'll be around too much longer. Am I sticking my head in the in the stand? Nope, just holding on and trying to enjoy the ride.

Is the hobby dying, yup. I guess we all are. Best of luck.

...r1

 

[rufleruf]

I have friends of all ages with nice stereos, speakers, turntables, media collections etc that would look at me weird if I referred to their interest in these things as a "hobby".

They are just following a trend I have noticed and went through myself. At some point one gets tired of listening to music in a utility sort of way (ear buds, computer speakers, car stereo etc), and when space and money is available they get some equipment that allows them to enjoy music. I grew up with an early 80's Kenwood black face receiver and some big Kenwood speakers I bought at Macys with paper route money. I bought records that were transferred to cassette for Walkman then car stereo consumption such that I wore out a few cassette decks. I used a Dual turntable my uncle gave me. Somehow in the process of moving out and settling in to adult life I don't have any of those components any more. When I turned about 26 I went to The Sound Well in Berkeley and bought a restored Dynakit Stereo 70, got a McIntosh C-26 somewhere and paired these with a pair of B&O S45-3's I got at Goodwill. That was a surprisingly good sounding system, mostly used with CD's. When the ST70 started having issues 10 years later I sold it and the C-26 to buy a Fisher 500-C (the one in my signature), when the 500-C started having issues the rebuilding of it turned audio into a hobby for me.

It occurs to me at this point in the story that I never considered getting rid of my 20 wine case boxes of records.

I live in an area that would be considered "ahead of the curve" on stuff like this. I can think of several newly opened record stores that also carry new and used turntables, and used receivers. They are by all accounts doing well. I service and hand over turntables, small quality speakers and receivers to a buddy that sells to them wholesale. Heck, my 70 year old mom is asking me to get her a record player - she misses me playing records all the time, which is hard to believe, but whatever.

Good audio will have a place as long as we have ears and can notice when something sounds better than something else.

 

[osageaudio]

I find it interesting how there can be some many misconceptions and generalizations about the hi-fi business. Let me lay out a few facts based on information that people in the industry have access to.

There are more than thirty hi-fi retailers in south Florida.

There are about twenty in the St. Louis area.

There are currently (based on the last official count in 2016) more hi-fi dealers in the U.S. than there have ever been. But the majority no longer have storefronts in shopping areas. The reason for this is that today most customers demand in-home demonstrations of products before they buy them. That means the dealer goes to the customer's home to make the sale. The customer does not go to a store, drop a few thousand dollars, and then haul home whatever they bought.

This way of selling is slowly cutting into online sales as well.

So the market requirements have shifted. If you look at it logically, the buyer is a whole lot smarter and more cautious about getting the right thing that he was in the 1970s.

The majority of our customers are between 30 and 45 and have moved into a "permanent" residential situation for the first time. They used compact and portable devices for music before then for the sake of convenience. But that is the same as it ever was. First we had receivers replacing three separate components (and yes, receivers were marketed originally as a convenient solution to the multi-box problem), then we saw all-in-one record player, receiver, tape deck products, then portable boom boxes, the Walkman, and everything that has followed. And then when people settled down they bought a nice component system. Those are the people 50 and up today.

It's the same as it ever was. Just the technology is different.

So beyond the technology, from my point of view on the inside, and from my point of view of being involved with this since the 1960s, I don't see how anything has changed except the technology. There are more brands and models of good turntable, good cartridges, good speakers, etc. than there have ever been, plus you have the convenience of digital and better headphone choices than ever before. This stuff wouldn't be out there if people weren't buying it.

Happy listening.

 

[BOUXY]

Audio will never DIE!
I as well as others and I mean ALL OTHERS are dying right now and forever will.This is a fact period!

 

[Northwinds]

Judging from recent local auctions, it's not dying at all. I know a lot of the UCONN students are out prowling for vintage gear also. Seems to be a trend in a lot of colleges, guess they are tired of shitty phone music sound

 

[Ken Boyd]

No death at my house, more vinyl, more equipment, and the only thing that has reduced is the amout of spare room to store it all.

 

[Balifly]

Hi everyone,

Every single day, I see less and less Hi-Fi stores and equipment. At least, in Miami, where I live, most of the dedicated stores are closing. Hi-Fi equipment manufacturers are presenting less lines, less models, and many of them are switching to commercial electronic or other branches. I don't see young guys interested in Hi-Fi. I see them completely toward to Ipads, Iphones, Wireless Headphones, and storage chips.

For me, someone who has been enjoying Hi-Fi gear for more than 40 years, it is a sad thing.

What we love is about playing music using the best possible way, according to our possibilities. But, most of us can not negate we are equipment lovers, probably more than music lovers. I can not think of myself enjoying a record using a computer speaker set ,or listening to MP3 music, or from a memory stick.

What do you think about the future of this hobby ?? What are your predictions ??

Thanks

Disagree with your premise.

 

[soundmotor]

Hi everyone,

Every single day, I see less and less Hi-Fi stores and equipment. At least, in Miami, where I live, most of the dedicated stores are closing. Hi-Fi equipment manufacturers are presenting less lines, less models, and many of them are switching to commercial electronic or other branches. I don't see young guys interested in Hi-Fi. I see them completely toward to Ipads, Iphones, Wireless Headphones, and storage chips.

For me, someone who has been enjoying Hi-Fi gear for more than 40 years, it is a sad thing.

What we love is about playing music using the best possible way, according to our possibilities. But, most of us can not negate we are equipment lovers, probably more than music lovers. I can not think of myself enjoying a record using a computer speaker set ,or listening to MP3 music, or from a memory stick.

What do you think about the future of this hobby ?? What are your predictions ??

Thanks

The entry level has shifted but it certainly isn't dead. By entry level I don't mean budget but where the consumer first gets involved. For many of us it was at a department store, Radio Shack, parent, or local Hi-Fi Shoppe, most of which are long gone now. Now it's China direct, Facebook marketplace, online purchase based on an review, a gift, or something bought from craigslist which may/may not be a good experience. For example my daughter's BF received a new TT from Amazon as a gift and I helped him try to troubleshoot an out-of the-box problem, he's ~24. These kids are getting involved, just not the way we first did and in many ways it's invisible.

 

[rufleruf]

I think a clear definition of "this hobby" is called for.

 

[mkane]

Kill your television

 

[Ken Boyd]

The entry level has shifted but it certainly isn't dead. By entry level I don't mean budget but where the consumer first gets involved. For many of us it was at a department store, Radio Shack, parent, or local Hi-Fi Shoppe, most of which are long gone now. Now it's China direct, Facebook marketplace, online purchase based on an review, a gift, or something bought from craigslist which may/may not be a good experience. For example my daughter's BF received a new TT from Amazon as a gift and I helped him try to troubleshoot an out-of the-box problem, he's ~24. These kids are getting involved, just not the way we first did and in many ways it's invisible.

Kind of funny actually 24 years old and getting his first TT. Most of us older members probably got their first turntable at 10 years old.

 

[gslikker]

The 100000 people town close to where I live, had 2 places selling general hifi (not counting some B&O store) and now there are 3. Smaller villages directly around may have 100000 people together also

Somehow, it looks things are not dying, at all.

The only thing very obvious when visting the yearly hifi show nearby, is that most people attending this are quite greyhaired if still there.
Also the "atmospere"is a lot like "audio is serious business, so do not laugh".
So, for youngsters interested, I think it is a quite depressing environment and they really are a minority. The brands/importing companies have something to learn, there.
The biggest thing is do not approach youngsters as people being stupid, most have better education than hifi sellers...

 

[KLH9]

Y'all gowan and get.

Leave your unwanted stuff at the curb on your way out.

I'll be around later.

.

 

[soundmotor]

Kind of funny actually 24 years old and getting his first TT. Most of us older members probably got their first turntable at 10 years old.

That's the exact age when I bought my first too. Until that time I had the family console, sister's to use, or in a dorm where I didn't want one.

 

[Northwinds]

Kind of funny actually 24 years old and getting his first TT. Most of us older members probably got their first turntable at 10 years old.

Damn right!

Magnavox portable that looked like a suitcase, speakers could be setup the length of the cords. Elvis and Olivia Newton John back then

 

[Mister Pig]

That's the exact age when I bought my first too. Until that time I had the family console, sister's to use, or in a dorm where I didn't want one.

Kind of funny actually 24 years old and getting his first TT. Most of us older members probably got their first turntable at 10 years old.

Well that is because when you were ten years old, there were no video games. At that time the best you had were a rock, a stick, a roll of caps, and perhaps some marbles.

Of course you got a hi-fi. Now if you would have had Destiny for a PS4, then things probably wouldn't have gone that way.

Regards
Mister Pig