People don't know what they don't know... expanded into areas of broader concern is a rather sobering thought...
Do you think this hobby is dying ??
- Thread starter DVjorge
- Start date
Well... that from a man who put a shotgun to his head...
To paraphrase Ernest Hemingway "If you live long enough, you'll see everything you love about the world die or be destroyed".
soundmotor
super modified
My view through the keyhole -
Was in Montreal earlier this year. Discovered the McIntosh dealer was still in their same location as when I first stumbled across them in 1990. It's a neat place, now carries B&W, and looks very much like the high-end shop that it is. I was mostly by myself when I was in but they do not look like they are hurting for business in any way. About a 20 minute walk away is another audio shop with headphones, TT's a smattering of tube gear, components, speakers, and a ton bluetooth audio systems & accessories. When I went in I was most definitely the old man in there and doubt anyone was much over 30. It was buzzing too. OK sure, it's Canada and a different market but I don't believe they are that much different. Plus, the shop (Layton Audio) has been there for a long time. I can recall ~10 years back when they looked like many of the dying audio salons in the US. Clueless and not sure what the next move was. To my eye it looks like they sorted it out, embraced the market change as well as the customers, and went for it.
I take every opportunity I get to recruit for the hobby!! And both my daughters have been thru indoctrination
. 28 yr old went with playing vinyl with My original 350a and some KLH’s and a room with the treatments it needed. Sounds awesome. She has “trained” a few of her friends. My 22yr loves it but doesn’t want big shit, she’s all about ear buds and her phone or laptop with good for what they are computer speakers. She listened to my traveling “rig” over Thanksgiving and just called and asked for the Schitt and Sony’s because I offered them to her that day. Another score just in a different direction. This shits like Metal, 200 genres
Hungry Henry Looking Up
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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
Me too brother, tried to find a picture of mine on the interweb but no luck. Mine had legs was covered in black and silver cheapass vinyl something. Then in 1976 ( grade 6) had an uncle give me a hand me down 350a, AR-XA (the one in my sig) and some KLH-17’s.
Oh but they can still sound great when you in a hotel room for work a month at a time and don’t have the volume option!! Or in a dorm room, hey maybe an apartment building.
gslikker
Super Member
Coincidence:
I remember a shop having the Lecson AP3 amp and preamp on display (not for sale), in st- Catherine's street. I was there some 20 years ago and also15 years ago. The amp was always there and since it looks different than any other amp it was an eye-catcher (myself I had one also) Probably it was that Layton shop (just googled it but while it is so long ago I do not really recognize, I think it was the only hifi shop in that street). I was Montreal several times . (usually walked st Catherines street from my hotel to the Irish pubs, my favourits Hurleys and the old Dublin, for live music and a nice chat, apart from too many beers).
I really liked Montreal!
twiiii
Lunatic Member
As it was in the early days, most definitely impossible. I bought a HH Scott 222c integrated, 350 tuner, 2 Stephens speakers, and a Garrard turntable with cartridge on special for for around $600.00. What can you buy today of the same quality for $3000?? Thats the problem. My little amp put out 17 clean watts with less than 2% distortion. The speakers were rated at 97 db 1 watt 4 ft. So thats 109 db each. Thats concert Level at 12 ft. Now days you need over 100watts most of the time unless you can afford Klipsch Forte III, and the speakers alone will blow your budget. The Heresey couldn't match the Bass then of the Stephens then and can't now.
well i do keep thinking its dying, my kids and their friends seem to have no interest in gear.
for them its mobile and cans or buds.
seems i cant give a turntable away lately, seems those who want now have them.
but new a record store just opened here ... thats 3 in a pop of 100,000, not counting big box places and pawnshops.. they have lots
one local, carries new and used turntables,amps,and speakers, and new cartridges [only ortofon ]
he cant get enuff amps or small speakers, he is buying mine to resell
and then i look at the "introductions" forum here, looks like still some interest
for them its mobile and cans or buds.
seems i cant give a turntable away lately, seems those who want now have them.
but new a record store just opened here ... thats 3 in a pop of 100,000, not counting big box places and pawnshops.. they have lots
one local, carries new and used turntables,amps,and speakers, and new cartridges [only ortofon ]
he cant get enuff amps or small speakers, he is buying mine to resell
and then i look at the "introductions" forum here, looks like still some interest
reddog48
Active Member
soundmotor
super modified
As an Irish pub fan and that both Hurley's and the Old Dublin still show as being around, I plan to check them out next time up. Montreal is a ~5.5H roll from Boston.
We go up twice a year.. Great restaurants, sights, and USD:CDN exchange rate that is embarrassingly in my favor although not as much so as it was in 2016.
Homer4beer
Well-Known Member
But who is buying up all the old vintage gear? There really isn't a lot of under 30-35 (it's the 40+ guys hording lol) I'd think, so I do think there is a real chance of the hobby dying a slow death as the older guys pass away.
I totally agree with the lack of mid priced quality stereo hifi gear. The electronics companies are simply far too focused on cheaper home theater soundbars and AVR's.
From where I see it, the "hobby" isn't so much dying as it is changing. Based on a lot of the comments above, many of us started early on with some sort of record player. For me, it was a little GE portable when I was three years old, and I used our Admiral mono hi-fi in the basement constantly, every night, playing records, standing on a chair next to it. Aside from other distractions today's young 'uns have, the way they obtain music has changed. We bought records. Then we bought CDs. For them, CDs are kind of a rarity--music is now "consumed" via streaming or downloading. While they may be listening over a crappy phone and $5 earbuds, the one advantage they have is that they are listening to music more often than we used to, since they carry it with them all the time. Some audio devices now are pocketable. Others are simple to set up and use--pair a powered speaker with a smartphone and it's ready to rock.
I'm just glad enough of us here care to hand down our equipment and our way of thinking about listening through proper equipment.
I'm just glad enough of us here care to hand down our equipment and our way of thinking about listening through proper equipment.
Agreed. I feel there has long been a gap between the mass market gear and the beginnings of the high-end market. There are nowhere near as many "in between" products as their used to be, back when I used to visit the stores heavily during the 80s and early 90s--you could usually find a few items spot on with your budget back then.
Or is that just our perception without being adjusted for inflation just like fuel?
HTHMAN
Super Member
Good point. I took it to mean the hobby of collecting, restoring and enjoying the vintage audio equipment, not audio in general. It is largely we baby boomers that are collecting the vintage pieces and enjoying stuff that we could not afford in our youth. The sound is great but the nostalgia is even greater. When we are gone, will that hobby endure? To some extent-yes. At the level of today-nope. Will we enjoy audio in some form in the future-certainly.
Not that it matters but I think the quest for SQ is the hobby and the personal preference about how to get there via the gear is a side hobby of the music. JMO
Maybe a small part, but it's like the different classes of gear are lumped at both ends--the less expensive, and the more expensive, with somewhat of a void in between.
I remember in the 80s and 90s if someone would ask me for advice on buying something, I could take their budget, drive with them up Woodward Avenue to the various audio stores here, and find plenty to compare in their price range, no matter what it was. And those were all new components. Nowadays I really have to struggle to put together systems from what is out there as new equipment. I have no issues with used gear, so for my own purposes I can find something within a budget. But for many others, buying used gear is buying someone else's problems.
The components have also changed--think of how many stereo receivers and integrated amps we had back then, compared to now. For the big brands, a stereo receiver doesn't even exist, or it is a barebones entry-level model. To hop up any higher is sometimes a big leap in price now.
That's the gap I was referring to.
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