Are we the last 'Hifi' generation?

I would say yes we are , I gave a nice system TT, amp, rack , speakers, cables to my daughter and son in law, 3 months later they asked if I wanted it back as they like the minimalist side of things

 

I'd like to agree with you but if my experince is anything to go by we are an endangered species.
My daughters and their friends enjoy music, especially live but have no and I do mean no interest in hi-fi.

 

This is the norm. There are millions of people who love music but have no interest in hi-fi. It's always been niche and nowadays there's honestly little point when a phone and some earbuds sounds completely fine.

 

Interesting thread. My first thought was ‘but my young son and daughter both listen through amps and speakers (mostly cast offs from me)’ But then I remembered - they are both now in their 50s!

 

One of my pals has around 8,000 LP's. He sometimes mentions how much Discogs says it's worth and how his son will be quids in after his days. He's 56 years old. Part of me thinks in twenty plus years down the line, it will only be fit for landfill. Guess we won't know until the time comes.

 

Yes, when is the best time to tell the record collection, before prices head south?

 

When I discovered hi-fi in the 1980s, there was plenty of rock / pop music that sounded way better than it did on the sideboard system my parents owned. Nowadays, new music sounds no better on my system than it does on a ghetto blaster. Since new music drives interest in hi-fi to younger people, it’s inevitable that there’s no longer any point in hi-fi. This all started in the mid-nineties as far as I’m concerned.

 

Yep.

https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list/1/year/asc?artist=oasis&album=

 

I would say definately NO ... both my boys would love my speakers and kit !!! they love it , only reason i dont encourage one is i know his neighbours and they would NOT appreciate it

 

I thought your point was that just because you own the kit to listen to music, it doesn't follow that you necessarily do? So the technology moves on, the choice increases, and people can move from free services to paid ones if they have the interest. The proliferation of paid services (including high bitrate 'hifi' services or tiers) surely goes to show that the interest in music remains?

 

They always were. I remember going to Hi-Fi shows thirty years ago. They were characteristic by middle aged men wearing out of date clothes carrying carrier bags and a faint whiff of BO. Has anything changed?

There don't seem to be any fewer Hi-Fi shops in Glasgow than their used to be, which is impressive considering the internet, and the main Linn/Naim dealer is doing just fine.

I agree that the market is different now but I think the revival of vinyl gives cause for hope. I don't believe it's just old farts who are buying turntables and records these days.

 

our city has loads of Hi Fi shops ... at least 7 !! solihull alone has at least 3

one road in the city centre has high end shop at one end and another at the other end of the street .

 

Yes, but having a parent that is a hi-fi nut is not the norm is it? If you don't get the introduction in a good way how would you know and care? Certainly not from high-end shows or the review magazines of today.

 

Bit of a generalisation there, some stuff is wonderfully produced, especially hip-hop and electronic.

 

Excellent post. I wonder how many PFM members would have filled up their living room with racks of nondescript black boxes in the early 80s if they could have got great sound from a streamer and pair of active speakers.

 

Cheap audio is probably better than ever tbh. You can get great sound from a single Sonos for £200, it's not audiophile but plays good quality music. What else do you need?

 

Personally glad that "the youth" aren't spending their hard earned on £759 cables and wasting their lives away blind testing

 

I was lucky and unlucky as a school kid: unlucky that I had to live with my dad and stepmother who I really didn’t like much and lucky that they went out a lot so I could listen to my records on a Goldring/Quad/LS3/5a system my wicked stepmother had nicked from her first husband.