Audiophiles going the Dinosaur way ?

[arj]

Interesting article that popped up. While headphonesty does tend to exaggerate for views, the data it shows is interesting

perhaps more pertaining to the US and Europe where the population growth is low single digits and even -ve unlike the asia countries where the growth in affording class is far higher the trend is also driven by other factors and most importantly quoting them

where are the younger audiophiles?

The answer, as much as it pains me to say it, seems pretty clear – they’re just not interested.Younger people stream music through cheap headphones or portable speakers. They’re not messing with turntables or fancy stereo systems. That’s not surprising though, since for many, music is just something that plays in the background while they go about their day.
So, the idea of dedicating an entire room to a stereo system is becoming as foreign as a rotary phone.

and

One big reason for this is that today’s music is made to sound good on headphones, soundbars, or portable speakers. Listening to them on high-end gear will just ruin the experience as it’ll expose the flaws in the mastering.

Point 2 may be more valid as even traditionally safer mediums like Vinyl masters are now falling victim to the above , perhaps due to wireless turntables and availability of poor masters.

This was of course discussed here

 

[VRavichandar]

music is just something that plays in the background while they go about their day

Spot on!
For movies, why spend lakhs to get that 'atmos' sound effects for a few minutes in a movie? And this expensive gear does not last long + lack of proper service support is another reason to give up..

 

[Nikhil]

perhaps more pertaining to the US and Europe where the population growth is low single digits and even -ve unlike the asia countries where the growth in affording class is far higher the trend is also driven by other factors and most importantly quoting them

The new center for Audio is Asia. Primarily South East Asia. (Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand etc.)
India is not yet on the map but will eventually find a spot as income / spending power increases.

.

 

[Analogous]

@arj . Thanks for sharing this. This is a very Interesting opinion piece and the author discusses some aspects of the hobby that I (and probably many of us) agree with.
It’s overwhelmingly a male preoccupation. I don’t know why and wonder about this.
It’s often snobbish and elitist - focused on expensive gear. This could explain why most young people are not in it.
I have not come across anyone who considers himself/herself an audiophile/audio enthusiast aged below 40 years.

My own personal journey into audiophilia started in my 40s and slowly even though I have been a music lover all my life. College days - having a set up- anything that played music loud was good enough. The discovery of how much better music could sound happened for me when I got a Sony Walkman with headphones. I still revel in the memories of my hostel mates crowding into my room for a listen!!! But the Walkman did not matter when it was party time. It was a car cassette player with a 12v DC power supply and a pair of speakers on top of a clay pot or mounted on a wooden box that provided the joy.

I am not sure if the demographic (YouTube Audio Resurgence, English speaking) is adequately representative of the global audiophile spread.
We all know a few audiophiles on Hifivision who despite having excellent knowledge and nice setups rarely post because of their reluctance to post/write in English for a variety of reasons. I am not aware of audio forums in other Indian languages- do they exist?

I have come across Audiophiles in Japan, China, and a few other countries who don’t speak/ communicate much English or very little. I have also met a few audiophiles who are not part of online forums but who do keep themselves updated on the subject.

In my opinion (no proof, just a feeling) Audiophiles have always been a small scattered population and will continue to be that, just like with many other hobbies. The only big danger to this hobby I can imagine is a large catastrophe like massive economic collapse, widespread conflict and collapse of governance and such. But then in such situations we will have other things like survival and other basic needs to think of?

 

[square_wave]

The audiophile hobby isn’t disappearing overnight, but it is slowly changing. Conversations with younger music lovers reveal something interesting: many of them genuinely care about sound quality and enjoy listening to music at home, yet they often feel alienated by the traditional audiophile world.

Their biggest barriers are complexity and cost. The idea that a good system requires multiple separates—each expensive, technical, and visually intimidating—simply doesn’t make sense to them. Add to that personal financial priorities and subtle peer pressure, and spending large sums on audio gear can feel unnecessary or even a little absurd.

That said, there is clear interest in simpler setups: a pair of attractive speakers, a streaming DAC, and an amplifier—ideally compact, easy to use, and sensibly priced. If the system looks good, integrates seamlessly into their living space, and doesn’t demand endless tweaking, many are more than happy to invest - There is a big future in this space.

Traditional high-end audio equipment—often expensive, utilitarian in appearance, and designed primarily for the already-initiated—will likely remain a niche. Over time, that niche may become even smaller, though still deeply passionate.

Interestingly, vinyl continues to appeal strongly to younger listeners. Records are bought not only for sound, but for ritual, artwork, and emotional connection. However, many are perfectly content playing them on affordable turntables connected to simple, all-in-one systems. For them, the experience matters more than absolute technical performance - I know quite a few people who own cheap turntables connected to the aux in of their blutooth hifi system. Young chaps.

The focus for the newer generation is music discovery.
With unlimited access via streaming, music is abundant and transient. The focus shifts from “owning the best playback system” to “enjoying music effortlessly, anywhere, anytime.”

High-end audio may evolve into an ‘artisanal luxury’
Expensive separates won’t vanish, but they may increasingly resemble mechanical watches: admired, collected, and cherished by a small group rather than pursued by the mainstream.

 

[Analogous]

I

The audiophile hobby isn’t disappearing overnight, but it is slowly changing. Conversations with younger music lovers reveal something interesting: many of them genuinely care about sound quality and enjoy listening to music at home, yet they often feel alienated by the traditional audiophile world.

Their biggest barriers are complexity and cost. The idea that a good system requires multiple separates—each expensive, technical, and visually intimidating—simply doesn’t make sense to them. Add to that personal financial priorities and subtle peer pressure, and spending large sums on audio gear can feel unnecessary or even a little absurd.

That said, there is clear interest in simpler setups: a pair of attractive speakers, a streaming DAC, and an amplifier—ideally compact, easy to use, and sensibly priced. If the system looks good, integrates seamlessly into their living space, and doesn’t demand endless tweaking, many are more than happy to invest - There is a big future in this space.

Traditional high-end audio equipment—often expensive, utilitarian in appearance, and designed primarily for the already-initiated—will likely remain a niche. Over time, that niche may become even smaller, though still deeply passionate.

Interestingly, vinyl continues to appeal strongly to younger listeners. Records are bought not only for sound, but for ritual, artwork, and emotional connection. However, many are perfectly content playing them on affordable turntables connected to simple, all-in-one systems. For them, the experience matters more than absolute technical performance - I know quite a few people who own cheap turntables connected to the aux in of their blutooth hifi system. Young chaps.

The focus for the newer generation is music discovery.
With unlimited access via streaming, music is abundant and transient. The focus shifts from “owning the best playback system” to “enjoying music effortlessly, anywhere, anytime.”

High-end audio may evolve into an ‘artisanal luxury’
Expensive separates won’t vanish, but they may increasingly resemble mechanical watches: admired, collected, and cherished by a small group rather than pursued by the mainstream.

In other words dinosaurs like us will disappear soon, but our progeny will continue to evolve in different ways?

 

[square_wave]

I

In other words dinosaurs like us will disappear soon, but our progeny will continue to evolve in different ways?

We wont disappear. The traditional audiophile hobby will be come even more niche and smaller in size in terms of demographic. I also believe that the pursuit of perfection and quality in all forms of human endeavour will continue to be so. High performing audio gear are part of such an endeavour so they cannot escape that phenomenon. So, apart from the traditional super niche, the hobby will continue to engage a larger demographic but in ways that is less complex and less costly. Eventually less costly versions of hifirose, eversolo type of brands will be the norm.

As an aside, with the advent of ai, humankind may move to different ways of living their life and all these things will also evolve accordingly and who knows what is the shape of things to come ? With money becoming less scarce, people may move to designing stuff that are more artistic etc rather than utilitarian. Everything is connected to money, marketing etc. Only when the veil is lifted will people know how much of the shit they believed in were all controlled by powers beyond their imagination.

 

[HifiNewbie]

I would blame "Zerodha network", "Wint wealth" and "Ind money". Maybe even Sharan and Sanjay kathuria to some extent.

 

[DB1989]

The audiophile hobby isn’t disappearing overnight, but it is slowly changing. Conversations with younger music lovers reveal something interesting: many of them genuinely care about sound quality and enjoy listening to music at home, yet they often feel alienated by the traditional audiophile world.

Their biggest barriers are complexity and cost. The idea that a good system requires multiple separates—each expensive, technical, and visually intimidating—simply doesn’t make sense to them. Add to that personal financial priorities and subtle peer pressure, and spending large sums on audio gear can feel unnecessary or even a little absurd.

That said, there is clear interest in simpler setups: a pair of attractive speakers, a streaming DAC, and an amplifier—ideally compact, easy to use, and sensibly priced. If the system looks good, integrates seamlessly into their living space, and doesn’t demand endless tweaking, many are more than happy to invest - There is a big future in this space.

Traditional high-end audio equipment—often expensive, utilitarian in appearance, and designed primarily for the already-initiated—will likely remain a niche. Over time, that niche may become even smaller, though still deeply passionate.

Interestingly, vinyl continues to appeal strongly to younger listeners. Records are bought not only for sound, but for ritual, artwork, and emotional connection. However, many are perfectly content playing them on affordable turntables connected to simple, all-in-one systems. For them, the experience matters more than absolute technical performance - I know quite a few people who own cheap turntables connected to the aux in of their blutooth hifi system. Young chaps.

The focus for the newer generation is music discovery.
With unlimited access via streaming, music is abundant and transient. The focus shifts from “owning the best playback system” to “enjoying music effortlessly, anywhere, anytime.”

High-end audio may evolve into an ‘artisanal luxury’
Expensive separates won’t vanish, but they may increasingly resemble mechanical watches: admired, collected, and cherished by a small group rather than pursued by the mainstream.

Apologies in advance if I ruffle a few feathers along the way and with all due respect but this is the sanest take by a margin amongst the others waxing eloquent but divested from reality.

I belong to the demographic most are despairing about and most, if not all of my close friends have entry level systems of the likes of PSB, Mission, JBL, Q Acoustics, Klipsch and the like. They do care about audio, or at least they learnt to care when somebody showed them the ropes, something the earlier generation miserably failed to educate them on(I find it almost infuriating that some have the nerve to point fingers when they were themselves responsible for what became - rejoice that it is in paranthesis and not writ large in bold). How did they get into the hobby or at least appreciation of good sound to equip themselves with the bare minimum?

As somebody astutely pointed out, introduction to the experience that can be had at home aside, somebody also needed to breakdown the complexity and cost and besides yours truly who did the needful, newer CHi fi equipment also helped to a great extent to both simplify as well as make the experience more accessible.

And accessibility/simplicity is the key. In fact, I would say that a larger part of the populace is interested in high quality audio reproduction than ever before. I would make my case with the advent of high quality systems that are nearly ubiquitous in even mid level cars these days such as the newer crop of Mahindra and Tata Cars and even Maruti, which is otherwise notorious for offering excuses instead of stereos, has picked up its game with the New E Vitara. If there wasn't a demand, the market wouldn't react in this manner.

P.S. - my 13 nephew is also into the hobby and runs a Mission and Marantz combo. Oh, and he just got himself his first turntable - a Rega Planar 1, after I piqued his curiosity with that particular piece of magic during his last visit.

 

[Akshr]

Shit is very expensive, I need at least 2 sub-woofers to properly get response at one position, for all 3 seating positions I would need 4 subs

Headphones as well, its just an expensive hobby

Other hobbies have more glam on social media, such as cars, bikes, watches.

 

[square_wave]

For the "general music / audio quality enthusiast", great sound should be easier to access: simpler systems, better integration, and technology that works smoothly straight out of the box. Design matters more than ever—products should feel at home in modern living spaces, not like specialist lab equipment. Pricing and value also need clearer storytelling, helping people understand what they’re paying for in a way that feels fair and relatable. Above all, brands should focus less on technical one-upmanship and more on the joy of listening, shifting the conversation back to music, emotion, and everyday pleasure. When high-end audio feels welcoming, intuitive, and genuinely enriching, it becomes far easier for a new generation to connect with it.

It’s also worth recognising that perceptions inside the audiophile world can sometimes be misleading. Many audiophiles genuinely believe that a large number of people are interested in high-end systems, but this is often a classic case of groupthink—when most of your friends and peers share the same hobby, it’s easy to assume the wider world feels the same way. In reality, interests vary hugely across social circles. In the last 15 years, I was able to persuade maybe 3 or 4 non audiophile people to invest in a simple music system. And these are people who shared at-least a "distant interest" in what they heard when they listened to my system and they love music.

I have this guitarist friend who listens to music on youtube on his flat tv speakers. Not even a soundbar! Crazy, no? His music system is a JBL blutooth speaker.

 

[G401fan]

Just the sort of hogwash that has come along every decade since the 1970s.

Move along!

It's called the 'hipper than thou' syndrome. Easily subsumed.

 

[Analogous]

Just the sort of hogwash that has come along every decade since the 1970s.

Move along!

It's called the 'hipper than thou' syndrome. Easily subsumed.

But the joneses?
Hard to ignore the joneses
Sometimes I wonder if I am one too inadvertently or subconsciously