Are We the Last Generation?

[Bill Hart]

When I was 16 my Dad thought audiophiles were nuts.

Now, because of me, he knows they are.

I liked my old man. He came from that Greatest Generation that did most everything- electrical, plumbing, whatever, himself. He was sent to Nagasaki after the bomb, and never really talked about that. At the end, he had dementia, which was worse for him than me. He thought I was one of his brothers and was talking about 1940. Treasure them while you got 'em if they are worth it as beings.
I'm now a geezer. It is like a comfort zone-- oh, he's a geezer, a little crazy, leave him alone.

 

[howiebrou]

My Studer technician, who also is a recording engineer, told me yesterday that he does not like audiophiles.
He said I seemed a bit less annoying than the average audiophile. (I think it helped that I have an amateur radio license and that I used to build Heathkits.)

Thank god he doesn't lurk here or he would go stir crazy!

 

[bonzo75]

told me yesterday that does not like audiophiles.
said I seemed a bit less annoying than the average audiophile.

This description probably suits Tinka too, or will do soon after the clowns are sent in

 

[spiritofmusic]

My Studer technician, who also is a recording engineer, told me yesterday that he does not like audiophiles.
He said I seemed a bit less annoying than the average audiophile. (I think it helped that I have an amateur radio license and that I used to build Heathkits.)

Hmm, were you paying him the bill when he said you were less annoying?

 

[BillK]

I liked my old man. He came from that Greatest Generation that did most everything- electrical, plumbing, whatever, himself. He was sent to Nagasaki after the bomb, and never really talked about that. At the end, he had dementia, which was worse for him than me. He thought I was one of his brothers and was talking about 1940. Treasure them while you got 'em if they are worth it as beings.
I'm now a geezer. It is like a comfort zone-- oh, he's a geezer, a little crazy, leave him alone.

I do - he's younger than that but I am indeed grateful for him.

He has never gotten the sound quality thing because he was a factory worker in the years before hearing protection was a thing so doesn't have much hearing left above 8 KHz or so.

 

[Gregm]

We're the last who grew up before the Internet, and the last who grew up when audio was relevant compared to video.

We also grew from expensive telephones (remember trunk calls?) to mobile teams, cheap air travel, etc. I think that sitting to listen to music is no longer a thing -- or not as much of a thing...
Even though whenever any of my kids' friends have listened to my rig they are invariably astounded at the experience, at one occasion being moved to tears. Following which, they go back to their ear buds, etc.
Sitting down to listen to music is not (no longer?) a standard past-time as it is for us.

On the bright side however, in Europe there seem to be a lot of hobbyist interest in audio -- George & Vassilis of Ideon, Lukasz of Lampi... and many others, were audiophiles (probably with less disposable income for the hobby than the WBF average).

 

[Lee]

I for one feel the future of audio playback is bright but will be different that what audiophiles have preferred over the past 40 years I have been involved in this hobby. For me, the whole point has always been the enjoyment of music. I really do not care all that much about the gear. If it makes my listening experiences enjoyable, that is all I care about. Oh, and that it is reliable. As they say in sports, the best ability is availability. Hence I look for equipment with long term value and reliability. As a result, I keep my equipment for a long time. We will continue to have folks will value good sound but in more convenient and less expensive kit. I am all for that. As for video, I do not understand the dislike for it in audio forums. I am rebuilding my HT room around an 83” OLED and in the process of adding Atmos. Damn, it is fun to experience. Atmos music decoding can add so much to the experience. As an example take the recent Billy Joel Live at Yankee Stadium on blu ray. Shot with 16mm film, I was not expecting a fabulous picture even with a 4K scan. It is good enough, but the Atmos mix places you right in the crowd, it is almost like a remembered from being at his shows over the years. The stereo mix is terrible as was the DD mix in the old DVD. The Atmos mix is what live concert sound in the home can be. And it can be accomplished with inexpensive speakers and an AVR. Amazing value compared to high end audio.

I was just in San Francisco shooting a film with Jerry Harrison of the Talking Heads on Dolby Atmos. It will be out soon. The 9.1.4 recording studio I was in was a completely immersive experience. I was simply mesmerized by the extended cut of Burning Down the House and Drugs.

 

[VladB]

I have a team of 20 young bankers under my command, with an average age of c.30 years. They are certainly fairly well-paid by all means and have enough discretionary income to afford a few indulgencies.

Still, it is just 1 guy among them who is really interested in music and private listening as a hobby.

The rest are completely indifferent to anything beyond a TV soundbar or a good set of headphones.

Hard to say whether this is a problem of lack of time or personal (living) space to enjoy a nice stereo, but definitely not of money.

 

[eskamobob1]

Honestly, I think everyone here is pretty well on the nose. I am in my 20s and massively into audio and most of my imediate audio friends group is around my age. I think the reality is, you can get seriously good audio for super dumb cheap now. That means that the people who delve further into it either need to be more dedicated than before or willing to jump in at a higher tier (like seriously, air pods pro would be my pick of any chain ive ever heard sub 1500-2000 simply because of how incredibly valuable the portability is to my use case). I also think you are seeing a shift away from speakers for younger generation cause the kinds of places that let younger people earn enough to dive deep into audio pretty well require you to live in an apartment. It isnt until you are in your late 30s or early 40s that even the more successful of my peers can end up affording detached homes where speakers wont annoy neighbors and we can keep making good money. I dont think audiophiles are going anywhere, but I do think the landscape is changing.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Welcome to WBF, eskamobob1!

 

[Al M.]

Honestly, I think everyone here is pretty well on the nose. I am in my 20s and massively into audio and most of my imediate audio friends group is around my age. I think the reality is, you can get seriously good audio for super dumb cheap now. That means that the people who delve further into it either need to be more dedicated than before or willing to jump in at a higher tier (like seriously, air pods pro would be my pick of any chain ive ever heard sub 1500-2000 simply because of how incredibly valuable the portability is to my use case). I also think you are seeing a shift away from speakers for younger generation cause the kinds of places that let younger people earn enough to dive deep into audio pretty well require you to live in an apartment. It isnt until you are in your late 30s or early 40s that even the more successful of my peers can end up affording detached homes where speakers wont annoy neighbors and we can keep making good money. I dont think audiophiles are going anywhere, but I do think the landscape is changing.

Yes, I think there are a lot of younger headphone audiophiles out there. I started out as one too!

Nothing wrong with a changing landscape; "are we the last generation" sounds a bit dramatic. Agree, you can get seriously good audio for little money these days (I'll admit that I spent a bit more ). Times are good.

Indeed, a speaker system is only fun if you can crank it up, at least for me. Fortunately I have a detached home since 15 years or so.

 

[Pacha]

I work part time as an IT person at a local high school to keep my retirement interesting. I’m quite surprised and encouraged by the number of high school kids that are avid vinyl collectors and love to get together to listen. I believe there will be audiophiles well into the future even if the systems they have differ from what we are used to.

 

[marty]

Record sales went from Perry Como to The Doors in a few short years. I was told that the major label execs were caught flat-footed after Monterrey Pop Festival--suddenly, they realized the market was us!

This is a very thoughtful thread. Bill's post and others circle a key issue that isn't quite addressed which namely, is to ask the question, why is the reproduction of music so important to us boomers such that we have often allocated more discretionary spending to reproduce it well in comparison to the subsequent generations? I propose that the answer lies in understanding why the music moved us in the first place.

The way I see it, it was what message of the music that was the driver. The context for this started in the early 60's, particularly with the birth of folks music and the protest music of the Vietnam war. That was the source of so much of what occurred in our lives at the time which eventually that led to many lifestyle changes that persisted with the classic rock era of the 70's and 80's that followed. It was not the easy listening music of Perry Como and Sinatra of the 50's that captivated us, but it was Dylan and the British invasion (Sgt. Pepper is undoubtedly the most important rock album of all-time in the opinion of many) and from there the Doors to you-name-it. Put another way, it was the meaning of the music that spoke to us. It was the voice of a generation- our generation. And by extension, I don't think any subsequent generation (Millennials, X, Z) had music that was as deeply relevant to their eras as ours was to us. To me, our music spoke to us with a gravitas that I don't think the other generations experienced with their music. To this day, I can't listen to Billy Joel sing "Goodnight Saigon" without crying my eyes out. I want to change the radio station when it comes on, but I can't. I'm frozen in time. That's representative of the generational music foxhole I want to be in (along with too many others to be named) and perhaps that's why there was always the devotion to optimize the sound system through which it was played. My sense is that's where so much of the meaning (and joy) of our generation comes from and perhaps that is why the reproduction of it's music has remained so near and dear to us.

I found a photo of my system back in 1975- I was 20 years old:

Damn, so it was YOU who stole my stereo system back then! How the hell did you fit the Magneplanars in your car?

 

[Al M.]

This is a very thoughtful thread. Bill's post and others circle a key issue that isn't quite addressed which namely, is to ask the question, why is the reproduction of music so important to us boomers such that we have often allocated more discretionary spending to reproduce it well in comparison to the subsequent generations? I propose that the answer lies in understanding why the music moved us in the first place.

The way I see it, it was what message of the music that was the driver. The context for this started in the early 60's, particularly with the birth of folks music and the protest music of the Vietnam war. That was the source of so much of what occurred in our lives at the time which eventually that led to many lifestyle changes that persisted with the classic rock era of the 70's and 80's that followed. It was not the easy listening music of Perry Como and Sinatra of the 50's that captivated us, but it was Dylan and the British invasion (Sgt. Pepper is undoubtedly the most important rock album of all-time in the opinion of many) and from there the Doors to you-name-it. Put another way, it was the meaning of the music that spoke to us. It was the voice of a generation- our generation. And by extension, I don't think any subsequent generation (Millennials, X, Z) had music that was as deeply relevant to their eras as ours was to us. To me, our music spoke to us with a gravitas that I don't think the other generations experienced with their music. To this day, I can't listen to Billy Joel sing "Goodnight Saigon" without crying my eyes out. I want to change the radio station when it comes on, but I can't. I'm frozen in time. That's representative of the generational music foxhole I want to be in (along with too many others to be named) and perhaps that's why there was always the devotion to optimize the sound system through which it was played. My sense is that's where so much of the meaning (and joy) of our generation comes from and perhaps that is why the reproduction of it's music has remained so near and dear to us.

I may offer a different perspective. In Austria where I grew up at the time few kids, including myself, paid much attention to the lyrics because German was our native language, not English. Still we loved the music. The meaning was the music, we did not associate it so much with the lyrics.

Of course, when I now hear "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival I fully dive into the absolutely brilliant lyrics and get more outraged than ever. This song is so, so, true -- so very true. The lyrics are perennially relevant to so much more than just the Vietnam War.

"War Pigs" by Black Sabbath is also lyrically brilliant, but here I still get more easily lost in just the music while less making the lyrics my focal point of attention. Even though you can't, and shouldn't, escape them. I certainly don't. And the unforgettable line "Satan laughing spreads his wings" is applicable to so much these days, also politically, as it was back then. It's also applicable to a lot of things done in a well-meaning manner. There he must find his laugh particularly satisfying.

 

[Fred Crane]

 

[Willgolf]

Interesting thread and I have thought about this question in a little different way. I could not afford a nice system while I was in my 30's and 40's. I had a Denon receiver and inexpensive B&W bookshelf speakers.

I did not get into higher-end audio until 6 years ago and instead of gradually moving up in the audio world, I started at the higher end. I am functionally blind so I can no longer drive. As a result, I listen to music every day for 3 - 9 hours a day. It drives my wife nuts but I am always looking for the next speaker, DAC, etc trying to find that ultimate sound.

I live in an older gated golf course community and there is not one person that I have been able to find interested in audio. So my dilemma is what happens when I pass? I have tried to buy my son an entry-level system and he is not interested. He is fine with his phone and a boombox. My wife listens but it is only to appease me. What will she do with all of my equipment when I pass? That is what I think about and it has affected me when I am thinking about purchasing another uber-expensive component.

The younger generation just has different needs than we did. They have so many other forms of entertainment than the boomers had. Each generation is different.

 

[Rhapsody]

Interesting thread and I have thought about this question in a little different way. I could not afford a nice system while I was in my 30's and 40's. I had a Denon receiver and inexpensive B&W bookshelf speakers.

I did not get into higher-end audio until 6 years ago and instead of gradually moving up in the audio world, I started at the higher end. I am functionally blind so I can no longer drive. As a result, I listen to music every day for 3 - 9 hours a day. It drives my wife nuts but I am always looking for the next speaker, DAC, etc trying to find that ultimate sound.

I live in an older gated golf course community and there is not one person that I have been able to find interested in audio. So my dilemma is what happens when I pass? I have tried to buy my son an entry-level system and he is not interested. He is fine with his phone and a boombox. My wife listens but it is only to appease me. What will she do with all of my equipment when I pass? That is what I think about and it has affected me when I am thinking about purchasing another uber-expensive component.

The younger generation just has different needs than we did. They have so many other forms of entertainment than the boomers had. Each generation is different.

Just hope your wife doesn't sell your gear for what you told her you paid for it

 

[Alrainbow]

My son now 16 has grown up with hence audio but more important to me to pass on to him was music. I paid for piano , horns and guitar non stuck to him
I’m not a musician but have loved music all of my life. so he bought him self a blue tooth headphone and ear buds.
beats and I asked can I listen to them
he does not like boom bass he likes powerful bass but all must be clean
I was shocked. I said nico these are really good , he said yea . I asked him how did you pick these out. his answer was a wow.
most from my headphones and ear buds and stereos. He hates when it is not clear.
I grew up very poor and always wanted things above my scale of life. It made me achieve things I think.
today they have so many distractions and choices. Things do change for one the internet god bless it in many ways

 

[jeff1225]

If you use Reddit, you will see that there are multiple Audiophile communities. The most popular subreddits is r/audiophile with 2 million subscribers. These systems there are very modest, but the posters are passionate.

 

[Alrainbow]

Potable Hifi I think is the biggest but too many consider it not hi end.