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HiFi: old man's (end)game?

A

Aspro

pfm Member
I bought my first Hifi system over 50 years ago. Most of my generation have a Hifi/stereo of some sort but the younger generation that I know use mobile phones with earbuds or speakers that they talk to.

One of the worst aspects of PFM (apart from anyone daring to question your opinions or buying choices) is learning about the demise of the industry's leading lights from its 70's and 80's heydays, most recently the excellent Glenn Croft. Can someone redress the balance and give me a list of leading lights , engineering or entrepreneurial in either mainstream companies or the cottage industry, who are under 50?

I'm not expecting a long list. No doubt the mainstream industry will continue (with more marketing and less innovation) but I fear the cottage industry will gradually disappear with the generation of talented enthusiasts that spawned it. This is very sad. One of the best aspects of Hifi is doing business direct the people actually making the equipment. Apart from artworks every thing else I buy is mass produced.
 
There are younger engineers, Jack Oclee Brown (KEF) Martijn Mensink ( Dutch&Dutch) Ben Lilly of ATC although he has moved from acoustics into marketing, Geoff Martin who designed B&O’s superb Beolab 90, Bruno Putzeys Hypex/Kii/Purifi I am sure there are more.
Keith
 
As long as there are enthusiasts prepared to buy the stuff there will be people popping up to design and make it. I personally know a local speaker designer and manufacturer. The snag is that the enthusiasts are dying out, literally. It's an old man's game and as the money disappears so will the people wanting to make stuff for the shrinking demand.
 
Take a look at the average age of hifi show visitors.
It is refreshing to see a few under 30’s attend, but to be brutally honest, there’s a lot of white balding men at them!
Where as a hifi system was often seen as aspirational to own “back in the day”, for a lot of people, phones & games boxes etc have taken over.
I’m sure there was an “age group poll” here sometime ago, can’t remember the outcome, but…………
 
I think the real issue is it is a dying market for a variety of reasons and there is just so much amazing stuff from far more innovative eras floating around the second hand market all that is left to fight over is shiny crap for football players and oligarchs. The days of selling stuff to real music fans is gone for much of the industry now. There are exceptions, obviously, but those who know what they are doing buy the classics or pro-audio now and those that don’t are likely happy with an Apple AirPod or whatever it is called, maybe two if they want stereo. It is a depressing situation but a whole raft of societal change and bad marketing decisions has led the whole industry into a cul-de-sac IMO. Hi-fi shows are just cringe now. Just so detached from real music buyers/fans.
 
I could point you to the DIY section of Pinkfish........... some really great and sometimes extraordinary things created there.

If that peaks your interest them you can pop over to diyAudio for the full feast.
 
Looking at my own setup the only things less than 30 years old are a DAC and Pi. Everything else I bought used and renovated it myself. Oldest bit is a Fisher 500C from the 60's Closely followed by a Thorens 124. It's been a very enjoyable hobby with part of the pleasure achieving excellent sound for not much money.
 
It's a good question. Things can die out. We used to have an amazing supersonic airliner. Now we don't. Progress, or even maintaing things as they are, is not a given.
 
I think the upward pressure of high-volume, affordable “consumer” products will continue to erode the entry to mid-level for new specialist hifi products.

For years, the hifi industry looked down on young consumers with headphones or smart speakers, but those technologies have improved dramatically. How many young people with limited disposable income can justify purchasing an expensive component audio setup when, say, a HomePod or two can sound really good?

The thing that amazes me is how many audio manufacturers and dealers manage to stay in business. There are only so many footballers and oligarchs!
 
There's pretty much no need to own a stereo, it's always been a luxury item. Most people just want to listen to music and can do it perfectly well on something that costs £100 even.

Why don't they want to get into a world of blind testing, forum arguments and snake oil?

I can't imagine
 
There is definitely a societal aspect too. Young folk just can’t afford housing anymore so headphones are a huge thing now. That along with easy access to genuinely superb digital audio has been a total game-changer.

PS I’m very pleased with pfm’s new headphone room, I wish I’d stuck one up a decade or more ago. It is arguably the most interesting aspect of modern audio.
 
More people live in flats & apartments now, so the likes of Sonos etc fulfill a lot of peoples needs & is “good enough”.
Agree that headphones are a growth area for music listening, whether it’s on the commute, or at home.
Maybe the likes of Active KEF LS50’s & 60’s could be seen as a higher quality hifi system for streaming, a step up from Sonos & a minimal box system which works in a modern style of living. So maybe that kind of thing is a growth area?
Wish they wouldn’t call them wireless though, cos they need power cables, Ethernet cables, & interconnects if you’re using a turntable to spin the youths “vinyls”:mad:
 
Streaming & better active speakers will be the pathway from smart speakers. Nothing wrong with that. Hifi has always been a niche, I mix with plenty of people with high disposable income, yet to meet anyone with a ‘better’ Hifi than me.

People still follow football & that brings endless misery and distraction.
 
We (as a society) just don't consume music the way we used to.

We used to go to lots of clubs and small venues and see really big name acts for a few "d." They'd be promoting their album. If we enjoyed the gig we'd pop into a retailer and buy the album. We'd then get all of our friends together, sit in a darkened room and listen to the new album.

Now youngsters (horrible generalisation alert) sit in their darkened rooms and send each other social media links of some mass marketed star's new video (for free.) After sharing it 4 million times, its done and they're onto the next one.

It is what is is.
 
kernow said:
Hey kids welcome to a life of disappointment, expense and pain!

Why would you do such a thing to people you love
Can't you get them into heroin or something enjoyable? Parents would prefer it tbh
Click to expand...

I must have been lucky, or have made good choices as my HiFi has always been a delight, good value and a joy to listen to.

People on pfm enjoy moaning about their lot, and paint the yoot with their negativity because it suits their narrative.
 
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