How Old Are You?

[mg196]

In response to Ovenmaster's lamenting over the eventual dissappearance of our hobby, I said I would start a poll which will prove him wrong! There IS a youger generation getting into this stuff!

And for you sticklers, don't whine about the age groups! I tried to be logical.

 

[OvenMaster]

Thanx a lot, MG :lmao: Seriously, I would love to be proven wrong.

Here's my assertion and thoughts:

I feel that young people today are not into 2-channel stereo, and that they are into iPods and computers instead. In addition, Home Theater gear is more available and abundant, making affordable new 2-channel gear unavailable to those who would start out with a small home system, and/or put a stereo into their dorms at college. Most young people today have no idea of how to use a turntable. They use CD boomboxes. Nor do most even have a clue what a vacuum tube is. Not to mention that most won't even consider used gear. I feel that newer technologies and diversions are taking the place of 2-channel stereo for the young as we know it. Two on our board that I am aware of, Akahn and HKguy are happy exceptions.

Please prove me wrong.

Oh. I'm 46.

Tom

 

[Sandy G]

Starin' down the riflin's of the barrel of 50...I'm 48. Damn, how'd I get to be this old ?!? Ain't much fun, either..strokes, screwed up knees, and can't fergit my ol' pal Uncle Arthur-itis...He's the meanest one of them Itis boys....<Pained grin>-Sandy G.

 

[Kamakiri]

I'll be 34 in October

 

[merrylander]

Seventy-five years young come December.

Rob

 

[SPL db]

Just turned 39 here last April! The big four-oh is right around the corner!

Scott

 

[J. H.]

Turned the big,"50" in June. Man, where does the time go?

 

[Manitoulin]

45. Wish I was younger, but still good looking..

 

[markthefixer]

47 and I still remember learning on vacuum tubes.....
although my first homebuilt fm stereo demodulator was an Intg. ckt. hooked up to a tube radio..... with a second tube radio modified to be the left channel!!!!

 

[Workingslug]

Quote:
"I feel that young people today are not into 2-channel stereo, and that they are into iPods and computers instead."
Unquote.
IMO this is the reality that we live with today.
I have had co-workers, who are in their 20's, tell me that they have never heard a turntable and have no idea why I would care to listen to such an out dated technology.
If one looks at the age of the members who attend our monthly stereo club meetings, we do not have the younger generation attending the meetings. There are a couple of us that have discussed this problem and we do not have a solution. There is a store near my house, Diamond Head Records and Tapes, and he has a decent selection of record albums. I asked him during one of my trips if many people purchased the vinyl and he told me that he has about 10 customers that are his consistent vinyl listeners. These 10 are also his older customers.
IMO, I think that the younger set wants accessibility rather than quality. They want it in their pocket such that they have it while in the store, school, car, etc.......
I do not feel that they have either the want or the need to sit in a dedicated listening room and enjoy their favorite music.
With the pace of our world today, there are those of us, myself included, (52 years old), that will be a novelty in that we enjoy the LP's with the vacuum tube equipment and the younger set will never understand why we would even consider such an out dated medium.

 

[mg196]

Hey Workingslug, you seem to be describing my Dad to a tee! He laughs at my turntable (though he LOVES his EPI T/E 100's I gave him).

My brother and I both have TT's and occasionally we purchase vinyl as gifts for eachother. I find myself to be an avid vinyl listener, but I RARELY go out to the record stores for purchases. For me it is WAY cheaper to hunt around yard sales and ePay.

Also, the youngin's simply may not WANT to go to your stereo club meetings. Perhaps they gather all their info on AK?! Remember, this is the age where people meet their significant others ONLINE (myself included)!! TIme is so consumed by other things that a Stereo Club probably doesn't fit in.

I know that I may not be "young" per se (31), but with a wife and a 2 year old (see above pic), I have very little time for meeting with other stereo dudes. That is why I love it here. My downtime at work (thank god I have some) is consumed with AK.

I am trying to get my 16 year old cousin addicted, but his dad (my uncle) doesnt want him to have a TT in his room!!

 

[Squidward]

Wow, in this crowd I'm a young 30!

 

[txsviking]

50 next month.
But like wine.......

Terry

 

[Squidward]

Seventy-five years young come December.

Rob

I wish the older generation of my family was in to audio. That would have been a fun hobby to share with my Grandpa. I hope your family appreciates your hobby with you! I find that music takes me back in time so easily, I would have loved to have shared in the music of a previous generation with a living tour guide!

 

[Strawman]

45, but it's not the years, it's the miles.

 

[piece-it pete]

I'm 38.

My family was into music, but not equipment. 1st stereo I remember was a sears suitcase style. Then a Zenith 4 channel with square downfiring woofer / upfiring tweet speakers. Then - soundesign!

Pete

 

[Texas42]

Hmmm, well my mind tells me I'm 22. But my body, drivers license, and birth certificate tell me I'm 45. Which to believe?

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

I turned 49 in June. It may be because of where I live (rural) but pretty much from what I've observed that anyone in their 20's and younger really don't seem to care about audio all that much. They are more focused on convenience (I-Pods, all in one HT systems) and mobility. TT's, R2R's, tubes, are all foreign concepts to them. I have friends with teenagers that view CD's (!) as being archaic and inconvenient. The industry is going to do all they can to keep the marketplace from stagnating (look at how many times they've repackaged the same music and re-sold it to us over and over again) and new formats for playback of movies, music are part of what keeps it going. Do I think 2-channel and the high-end will go away? No, but I think it will diminish, much in the same way as film has gone the way of digital photography.

 

[Justen]

There is a great way to get kids into the hobby- give them some of your gear! Most of us have large collections that sit idle while we listen to our main system. If there is a kid in your neighborhood that has just "discovered" Zepplin, give him a SX-636 and a TT and some speakers and Led Zepp III on vinyl. If there is a kid interested in learning something about electronics and you have some skill, teach them- you don't even have to be very good, explain how to clean stuff with DeOxit if thats all you know. They
can't appreciate what they don't experience, they can't learn what isn't taught.

This applies in a larger picture as well- people complain kids only play video games (or whatever) but their parents have given up (largely) active hobbies like electronics, woodworking, gardening in favor of tv and shopping. My neighbor taught me how weld when I was 8 years old, my dad had me doing woodworking even younger. You can be a mentor to kid in your life with whatever skill or hobby you have.

Off my soapbox now..

 

[Sansui Louie]

42. And I'm setting a 13 year old up with a great system.