How do we get the Audiokarma message out there?

tubeboob

tubeboob

Super Member
To start, I know Audiokarma is a great site for us audio junkies to meet, however, I was banging my head on how we could get the Audiokarma message out there, and into the mainstream world where good audio once was.

The reasoning is as follows:

If good audio is appreciated by more people, then we would expand the market, thus lessen prices and would also see general growth in all things audio.

Fact is, almost everyone who experiences good sound, especially the younger generation, are surprised by it and express an interest in audio. When exposed to tube audio and vintage audio, there's the added "cool factor" apart from the obvious sonic advantages.

Think about it, music is always going to be appreciated, but will be appreciated even more if it were more . . . musical.

The question is what do we do to achieve this end?

Any input would be appreciated.

Cheers
 
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Looking at how much these relics are going for, my guess is the word is already out. :scratch2:
 
Talk is cheap. Providing the experience is priceless.

In other words, if you want to try to "convert" someone, don't tell him "oh, your mp3 player sucks, you should buy xxxx", invite them over and just put on some tunes. Let the system do the rest.
 
In a culture of instant gratification, this is going to be harder each day.

Recently, at a family get together, my nieces and nephew were sitting around the table with one of their phones going through some music. Each track was never played all the way through, in their haste to demonstrate as much variety as possible.
I was casually overhearing their banter and there was an interesting song, so I asked them to replay it.
"Sounds great, doesn't it" said the boy.
"No", I replied, "It's an interesting song but it sounds like crap".
We then spoke for the next 15 minutes about the difference between the song and the sound, and the sacrifice of quality for convenience. I thought I actually saw a light switch on in his eyes. He seemed to be very interested.
"Yeah, but I got 1500 songs on my phone" he boasted.
"And they all sound like crap"

Even after our short conversation, he just doesn't seem to care.
Couldn't get through an entire song, I doubt a whole album is on the cards.

This is only one specific example, but for me it was an insight to the appreciation of quality, or lack of it.

Kids seem to want everything real quick, real cheap.
 
timofred said:
Kids seem to want everything real quick, real cheap.
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Yep, Ive seen it first hand too. When I hand my stepson the Squeezebox remote, he flips through songs and fast forwards them to the catchy parts and so on. When I have control of the remote, I listen to whole songs, and occasionally a complete album. He loves the sound of my system, but he doesnt appreciate it for what it is. Its also hard to get teenagers into it, because most of them listen to modern pop music. As we all know, modern pop music will sound almost the same as it does coming out of an iPod as it would a couple big speakers.
 
BadassBob said:
Its also hard to get teenagers into it, because most of them listen to modern pop music. As we all know, modern pop music will sound almost the same as it does coming out of an iPod as it would a couple big speakers.
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I wouldn't generalize, after all we all where teenagers a some point in time and we all some how found out about the joys of high quality audio.
 
Yeah sure.. tell more people how great old Altec, JBL, EV, Klipsch, ,and the other normal players are, and since more are interested, the prices will go down.... I'm calling :bs:

This place has already hiked a lot of prices on a lot of sleeper gear thanks to Google.. why try even harder to get more people looking to make a buck off flipping stuff...

Take Albums for an example. People used to pay you to take their old "junk" off their hands 3 years ago.. Now everyone wants $5 for their Herb Alpert that's all scratched to ****
 
KingBubba said:
I think Google already does that. That's how I found this place.
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+1 :thmbsp:

I thought about putting an AK link on my eBay audio gear auctions. Not as a member because I don't think that would be appropriate or have much meaning, but as a reference link for information on the products.
 
Unfortunately, given the choice of a HT setup, or a quality 2 channel setup the HT wins most of the time. and most HT setups are more about impact and volume rather than quality of sound. Back in the heyday, no young man would be without a stereo in his pad. Music on the go is the new deal and it is hard to get many interested in our hobby. To do this hobby right demands some time, that many in our fast paced world are not prepared to commit to. It is encouraging to see the number of young new members here at AK, and it is important that we all offer assistance, and encouragement, not chastisement over their questions that have been discussed a thousand times etc.IMHO
Regards,
Jim
 
With guitar hero and rockband that the kids are playing, I noticed that they recognized alot of older songs, new them by name and artists, and sang along if I play it on my car radio. That is cool. However, they don't seem to care if GH is just played through the TV. I don't think they realize yet what good sound is, when they share it with their friends on the phone and such, with the distorted bass and digitized vocals. I set up a small vintage system for my kids to listen through, but they don't prefer it.....yet!
 
In my entire life currently I am the ONLY one who is interested in stereos/quality music in a meaningful way. There is no one to enlighten or convert. I DID just give away my original starter setup (integrated amp, CDP and speakers) to a 19 friend at work who, like I at the time, is attending university. He and I are alike in many ways and thought perhaps if the system got me started, then perhaps he can too. Time will tell.

As for the rest of them out there: stop wasting valuable listening time by trying to convert the masses, especially the younger generation. I suspect in another generation (with the way it is going) that quality music of ANY sort will be a thing of the past. I might be wrong, but when technology presented itself the trend was towards getting more on less, not using the space for quality. I mean, considering I had a Walkman and a Discman: who wants the bulk today. There is a generation that is familiar with NO mediums at all. Not likely any hi res format (with a physical medium) is going to establish itself in the future.

Pesemisstic but I believe it to be true. Granted, there will always be exceptions but the exceptions seem to get rarer and rarer as the ages get younger.
 
Remember when WE were kids and wanted everything real quick too? Whether it was driving, s e x, or imbibing .... To me, it seems only after becoming more mature, did many of us begin to appreciate that going slowly can also have its virtues.
 
RE: the OP, considering the limited supply of vintage gear, expecting prices to go down while demand goes up is not realistic.
 
I've made quite a few converts to the joys of good sound from amongst the youger generations, starting with my daughter. She still listens to her iPod, but only gets good bit-rate MP3s and also listens to a lot of CDs and FM. This year she's getting into vinyl and I have several of my students who are now into it as well. Make it cool, make it interesting, let them hear the possibilities and you have a foothold.
 
This may be inaccurate and/or downright nasty, but aren't most of the AK members baby boomers and as such about to go on a fixed income? When that happens (or as they begin to pass away) there will be a flood of estate sales and the deceased's relatives flooding eBay with nice gear - it will be a buyers market!
 
xoaphexox said:
This may be inaccurate and/or downright nasty, but aren't most of the AK members baby boomers and as such about to go on a fixed income? When that happens (or as they begin to pass away) there will be a flood of estate sales and the deceased's relatives flooding eBay with nice gear - it will be a buyers market!
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i have (morbidly) thought of that before. that's why i try to buddy up to the old guys! ;) :smoke:
 
tubeboob said:
If good audio is appreciated by more people, then we would expand the market, thus lessen prices and would also see general growth in all things audio.
Click to expand...


When the demand for oil rises, the price of gas at the pump does NOT go down.

In theory the supply of great old audio gear vs. demand should mean the gear is out there to be had. In reality my guess is that at least half of it has found its way to the landfills. Bringing in new folks simply looking to make fast money and flip and gouge those who genuinely love vintage gear - and high quality gear of all time periods - doesn't seem all that desirable to me. In the year since I showed up I've been seeing new and old audio equipment prices go up, even on gear that one would think of as flying under the radar. The site sees more members joining each day and seems to be growing the way things are.
 
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