My Media Room...

[tmazz]

It's not a surprise that a lot of people don't want giant speakers or entire rooms arranged for the stereo. But the real question to me is why isn't the sound compelling enough to make people go for that sacrifice? That brings up a lot of questions.

I don't think the the compellingness of the sound is an issue here. I think that it real issue, and the biggest challenge that faces the industry in the future is that we are looking a a whole generation that for the most part does not value music period. They walk around with earbuds stuck in their heads for 12 hours a day, but to them the music is nothing more than background noise while they are busy dong other things. How often to you ever see (or hear of) a young person sitting down and listening to music a s a single stand alone activity? When I was a teenager it was not uncommon for a group of teenagers to get together at somebodies house and actually sit down as a group and listen to a newly released album from one of our favorite artists. While doing nothing else!!!!!! Nowadays you would be lucky to see a young person listening to music when only doing one other thing. (and of course under the concept of never say never, I know this does not apply to 100% of all young people, but is is the vast majority.) And to be fair this does not apply only to music. in today's world young people multitask with everything. When's the last time you saw a group of college age people in a restaurant that weren't eating talking and texting all at the same time?

And so if people are not willing to dedicate the time to sit down and purposely listen to music in the first place, how can we expect them want to dedicate space in their homes to an activity they don't participate in.

IMO the problem that the industry needs to tackle is how do you get more people interested in listening to music, period. Because if people do not consider sitting still and listening to music to be a valuable experience you have nowhere to go. Because you will never be able to upsell a person on better sound if they really don't care about listening in the first place.

[Guy 13]

Hi tmazz and others.
Yes, yes, yes...
What you write is the reality today.
Everywhere I go,
I see young boys and girls with ear buds that are texting on their phone at the same time.
When I was a kid, my friends and I would listen to the latest artist on 45 not 33T.
Our neighbour gave us some 45 that he got from a jukebox where he worked as a bartender.
Then when I was 16 (Yes, that's a long time ago)
my father bought an RCA Victor stereo furniture
and my mother bought some 33T from Selection of Reader's Digest of classical music.
Thanks to my parents, that's where my love for music come from.

Guy 13

[Nick B]

Hi tmazz and others.
Yes, yes, yes...
What you write is the reality today.
Everywhere I go,
I see young boys and girls with ear buds that are texting on their phone at the same time.
When I was a kid, my friends and I would listen to the latest artist on 45 not 33T.
Our neighbour gave us some 45 that he got from a jukebox where he worked as a bartender.
Then when I was 16 (Yes, that's a long time ago)
my father bought an RCA Victor stereo furniture
and my mother bought some 33T from Selection of Reader's Digest of classical music.
Thanks to my parents, that's where my love for music come from.

Guy 13

My parents had a one piece console that contained the receiver, speakers and turntable and that’s when my interest in music started. I was 10 or 11. Very good memories 🎶🎶

[Folsom]

IME young people go to more live shows than ever before. Not teenagers, but college age. They just don't have the $, space, or desire to build a stereo a lot of the time. They buy a good bit of vinyl though.

[Barry (NJ)]

I believe younger people listen to more music than we ever did, but yes, they also do it more casually. There is so much more to distract them than there was when we were their age. Also, if we wanted to listen to music, we pretty much had to sit down and do just that. The alternative was either a little "Transistor Radio" or later, a "Boom Box". Now portable private options are just ubiquitous, and even run of the mill sound, is superior to some decent stuff from back in the day. Even back in the day audiophiles were not every-man, and much of what got people into it back then was the novelty of having audio reproduction in the home, and some of those people strove for more/better, but most were still just as happy with whatever they got at Korvettes or Two Guys...

[goldlizsts]

IME young people go to more live shows than ever before. Not teenagers, but college age. They just don't have the $, space, or desire to build a stereo a lot of the time. They buy a good bit of vinyl though.

Noted.  The young people, the new millennials, have different priorities.  That's my take.  From my perspective, I'm just NOT as driven in terms of Audio/Hi-Fi enjoyment. It's good that someone like you still have that 110% drive. 

[tmazz]

I believe younger people listen to more music than we ever did, but yes, they also do it more casually. There is so much more to distract them than there was when we were their age. Also, if we wanted to listen to music, we pretty much had to sit down and do just that. The alternative was either a little "Transistor Radio" or later, a "Boom Box". Now portable private options are just ubiquitous, and even run of the mill sound, is superior to some decent stuff from back in the day. Even back in the day audiophiles were not every-man, and much of what got people into it back then was the novelty of having audio reproduction in the home, and some of those people strove for more/better, but most were still just as happy with whatever they got at Korvettes or Two Guys...

I guess the point I was trying to make was that young people today may spend much more time playing than we did in out youth, but at the same time spend much less time actually listening to it because they are usually doing three other things.

And I am not saying this as a dig against young people. It is just the reality of how they operate and when one looks at the decline of large scale home stereo systems as we know them I think you need to take into account  the shifts in how music is viewed (and consumed) by the younger generation  and the fact that a home stereo system, no matter how good it sound, just may not meet the needs of younger folks in that the benefits it provides may be ones that they do not want or even care about.

[tmazz]

IME young people go to more live shows than ever before. Not teenagers, but college age. They just don't have the $, space, or desire to build a stereo a lot of the time. They buy a good bit of vinyl though.

It is yet to be seen how long this uptick in vinyl sales will last among young people. I am still not convinced it is anything but a fad. For a good portion of them vinyl purchases are driven not by a desire for better sound, but for the "Cool " factor of records. One would hope that regardless of why they started buying records, they will eventually see the value of an LP and continue to purchase them over time.  But the cool factor is driven by a fad and like fashion, fads are very fickle and what is cool today can all of a sudden be passe tomorrow.  For the sake of the industry, I hope this does not happen, but I am nervous that it will.

An BTW, my pet peeve with young people and records is when they call them "vinyls". Vinyl is a compound that is used to make records. It cannot be made plural. 

The kids in my scout troop often ask me "How many vinyls do you have?"  My response to them is always the same, "I have a large collection of records, but I do not own any vinyls."   

Rant over.

[Folsom]

It might feel sorta "fad" like but I think it's more culture. Plus I think even with the cheaper stereos they can tell it's more pleasant to listen to than bad DACs ever will be.

[Barry (NJ)]

I believe younger people listen to more music than we ever did, but yes, they also do it more casually. There is so much more to distract them than there was when we were their age. Also, if we wanted to listen to music, we pretty much had to sit down and do just that. The alternative was either a little "Transistor Radio" or later, a "Boom Box". Now portable private options are just ubiquitous, and even run of the mill sound, is superior to some decent stuff from back in the day. Even back in the day audiophiles were not every-man, and much of what got people into it back then was the novelty of having audio reproduction in the home, and some of those people strove for more/better, but most were still just as happy with whatever they got at Korvettes or Two Guys...

I guess the point I was trying to make was that young people today may spend much more time playing than we did in out youth, but at the same time spend much less time actually listening to it because they are usually doing three other things.

And I am not saying this as a dig against young people. It is just the reality of how they operate and when one looks at the decline of large scale home stereo systems as we know them I think you need to take into account  the shifts in how music is viewed (and consumed) by the younger generation  and the fact that a home stereo system, no matter how good it sound, just may not meet the needs of younger folks in that the benefits it provides may be ones that they do not want or even care about.

And I was just saying that kids today have far more distractions available than we did, and the basic music reproduction available to them is far superior to what we had back then. For my friends and I in high-school, going to my house to crank a Pink Floyd album on my stereo while my parents were at work was a major activity. But game consoles weren't ubiquitous, nor were 60" flat panel TV's with high resolution video, never mind smart-phones and the internet. I think we're into it, because it is a part of our history, and mainly because that was a major part of what was available for entertainment during those formative years. Even then, the number of us that got deep was still a minority.

[tmazz]

Barry it looks like we are both heading to the same place although via two slightly different routes. Kids today , for whatever reaseon you wan't to atribute ut to, don't value music as a [primary activity. This turns into a major problem for the high end industry in that people who don't value listening to music are not likely to expend the time , money and energy that we do to enhance that listening experience.

[Barry (NJ)]

Agreed, when I put my younger friends, and the friends of my kids into the sweet spot, they get it, but I doubt enough to put them on the path. But maybe when they're older and have the means to purchase, and a place to put it, they'll seek it out. My son says he will one day, and I suppose much of my passion for music reproduction, was passed down from my father...

[goldlizsts]

Agreed, when I put my younger friends, and the friends of my kids into the sweet spot, they get it, but I doubt enough to put them on the path. But maybe when they're older and have the means to purchase, and a place to put it, they'll seek it out. My son says he will one day, and I suppose much of my passion for music reproduction, was passed down from my father...

Barry, your son will follow you in the audio path?  Congrats!  The millennials these days are on a different cloud!  They'd be happy with their iTunes, with ears plugged! 

[Barry (NJ)]

Barry, your son will follow you in the audio path?  Congrats!  The millennials these days are on a different cloud!  They'd be happy with their iTunes, with ears plugged! 

We'll see what he does as time goes on

And as far as the millennials go, as I said above, the cheap basic stuff today, is so much better than what we had  available in our youth, it often really is good enough...

[Brap]

I struggle with this constantly.  Have 2 kids, 31 and 29.  While they appreciate my gear and I purposely have almost 2 of everything to hand down, minus TT, I do have my Dad's 1955 gear.  Mahogany Jensen Imperial PR-100, Heathkit W5M and PA2, Eico FM tuner and mono Garrard RC88 MkII TT. this is in the 2nd floor hallway and listen to public radio and Christmas music around this time of year.  Fills the entire 1st and 2nd floor.  This is a big unit and love to pass it down but will the kids ever enjoy or if it needs any work (I restored the amp and pre) would they do it?  I could probably get some decent scratch for this stuff. Decisions, decisions...…..