Are we, as a breed of 'Audiophiles' dying out?

[Macca]

I think a lot of the people buying very high priced kit are not necessarily audiophiles and are just buying audio jewellery. They probably don't look at or post on forums either.

I think there's non-audiophiles like that at all price levels. Lots of civilians with 'proper' separates systems, one of my brothers for example. Never been on an audio forum in his life. Forums are just a snapshot, really.

I'd guess the vast majority of people buying the crazy money kit are in the middle or far east, a lot of them probably don't speak English.

I'd say once you get past £10K per component it's no longer about sound quality although they might still pretend or believe it is. That realm is a whole different 'hobby' from what we do IMO.

[Ali Tait]

Aye, only the mere mortals are regulars here. :-)

[Pigmy Pony]

Aye, only the mere mortals are regulars here. :-)

Mere mortals? Pah! My superpower has always been spending more than I should on stuff that could be better... though my Kryptonite (state pension) has diminished my powers somewhat.

[Ali Tait]

LOL, I think a lot of us are guilty of that!

[Wakefield Turntables]

Are we, as a breed of 'Audiophiles' dying out?

We are all "dying out", it's called getting older!

[ianlenco]

For Christmas my children (3 of them with their own families) wanted to know what to buy me. With no bright ideas I asked for a 6 month subscription to HiFi Choice. I've had 3 issues so far and I'm totally flabbergasted at the price of some of the stuff. OK, I've bought a fair amount of hifi over the years, and though I still love my vinyl I have got into streaming. A while back I owned an Auralic Altair which I really enjoyed but ended up having to sell it for spares when it packed in and Auralic told me they no longer supported my machine! So nearly £1800 for a fairly high end machine down the drain I replaced it with a Wiim Ultra for around £300. It sounded just as good. My point is I don't think you have to spend a fortune on high end gear to get a sound you can really enjoy.

Add to that the cost of "vintage" hifi these days also makes me grumpy. I also go to the occasional hifi show but are mostly disappointed with what I hear especially form so called high end dealers. I could afford some of this gear but value as well as quality steers me a way from it.

Signed, grumpy old man

[Barry]

..........

A while back I owned an Auralic Altair which I really enjoyed but ended up having to sell it for spares when it packed in and Auralic told me they no longer supported my machine! So nearly £1800 for a fairly high end machine down the drain I replaced it with a Wiim Ultra for around £300. It sounded just as good. My point is I don't think you have to spend a fortune on high end gear to get a sound you can really enjoy.

Add to that the cost of "vintage" hifi these days also makes me grumpy. I also go to the occasional hifi show but are mostly disappointed with what I hear especially form so called high end dealers.

That was the central message of the Headphonesty article I cited.

If you want to be shocked by the price of current 'high end' audio gear you need only to look at Hi Fi+ magazine. Agree with you re. audio shows, and the lamentable demonstration of gear by "high end dealers". It is one of the reasons why I no longer attend such shows.

[Macca]

I think about 20 years since prices went ballistic.

I was looking through a 1990 copy of 'Hi-Fi Review' the other day. There's a review of the KEF 105/3 and they state 'At £1800 a pair the 105/3 is a true high end product.'

That's maybe £4K in today's money. And today that won't even get you much beyond the middle speaker in anyone's range let alone a 'High End' speaker which could cost £700K. In some ranges it will just about get you the small two-way at the bottom (the dedicated stands will be an extra grand).

I think sometime around the turn of the century someone decided they could move hi-fi into Veblen goods territory and then a lot of manufacturers followed suit so that's why we now routinely have amps, streamers, DACs costing well into five figures when even in these days of ballooning costs there's really no need for those devices to cost so much.

[Barry]

I agree - the Swiss company Goldmund achieved Veblen status about 10 years ago. In my opinion the new owners of SME are aiming for the same: witness their refusal to separately sell the arms, and of the absurd price of their newly manufactured Garrard 301 turntable system.

The trouble is, no matter how good a new product is from a Veblen-status company, it can never be sold for a realistic price without destroying that company's status. The Swiss watchmaker Rolex has to sell their watches for twice the price or more than that charged by other equally good manufacturers, because that is what potential purchasers expect and are prepared to pay for a status symbol.

[Macca]

I agree - the Swiss company Goldmund achieved Veblen status about 10 years ago. In my opinion the new owners of SME are aiming for the same: witness their refusal to separately sell the arms, and of the absurd price of their newly manufactured Garrard 301 turntable system.

The trouble is, no matter how good a new product is from a Veblen-status company, it can never be sold for a realistic price without destroying that company's status. The Swiss watchmaker Rolex has to sell their watches for twice the price or more than that charged by other equally good manufacturers, because that is what potential purchasers expect and are prepared to pay for a status symbol.

The difference is that a Rolex or other very expensive watch is something everyone accepts is a status symbol. A hi-fi not so much, maybe it was for a few years from mid 70s to mid 80s but now?