The Death of the Home Stereo System

[mep]

As reported on CNN this morning: http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/27/tech/innovation/death-stereo-system/index.html?hpt=hp_c3

 

[JackD201]

With all the available options for entertainment in the home, I think music listening (as a primary activity) has become more and more solitary. Head-fi slots right into that pattern.

Add to that the home ownership factor. As transient as populations are, particularly the young and unestablished, packing light is a major consideration. Is it dead though?

No way. Docks and desk top speakers are still selling briskly. Those still count as home stereo systems.

 

[cjfrbw]

Home Stereo is Dead!

Long Live Home Stereo!

Sweeping declarations in drive by puff piece fashion articles are my major source of wisdom.

If you actually read a place like Head Fi, some of the studs have used headphones as their entry drug to major home stereo systems. It depends on your living circumstances (studio w/roomates vs. egregious suburban mansion), money, mobility, work, time, family pressures etc.

The aspirational high end system winds up being the province of the individuals who have raised their family, have some time, space and money etc. That won't change, the rest is logistics and convenience.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

The art of listening is dead.
Bring back the art of listening.

 

[Groucho]

How much of the decline of interest in home stereo systems for young people is due to a lack of good modern music for their age group, and the lack of good music being made a symptom of the youngsters not having been exposed to it in their teens? A vicious circle in other words..?

 

[RogerD]

Well not everybody can afford to spend 100k on a system. Demographics are changing and let's face it not everybody is in to sound. Let's hope efforts like PONO and others can make better sound more accessible. Unless your able to pass down your enthusiasm and equipment to your children....yes it is a shrinking market. The hifi manufacturers are it's own worst enemy,since the beginning. The drive to lower costs and quality have always been the focus,vacuum tube to transistor,point 2 point wiring to pcb,analog vinyl & tape to CD....and it continues to move to lower cost and more convenience. When technology should lower costs it doesn't,and with the long term economic picture....the present environment will not get better.

 

[Asamel]

This newfangled rock and roll music doesn't need a good sound system. It's so loud and it hurts my head.

 

[Bill Hart]

I love the photo and caption in the article that says (i'm paraphrasing): 'Once, back in the old days, whole stores were devoted to the sale of stereo gear.'
I don't think we've seen the demise of the home stereo.
A local business, better known for designing furniture for fairly high-end chain retailers, is now doing pretty well with 'fashionista' hi-fi items for the retro-chic home owner.
When I was in an oddball store in Austin over the winter, I came upon a vintage pair of speaker cabinets, can't remember what they were, custom made probably at the time, with period drivers in them. The guy had them hooked up to a mid-fi receiver and they actually sounded pretty good.
My wife, who has tolerated my hi-fi lunacy for almost 3 decades, even suggested the other day that at some point we do a retro system in the living space of our next place- not meant as serious gear, but some period thing with a record changer or old dog table. I have a ton of vintage RCA novelty records from the 50's and 60's, including all those bachelor records- Esquivel in Space, Music for a Backyard BBQ, etc. Of course, I'm thinking JBL Paragon. She's thinking Magnavox console.
We shall see....

 

[RogerD]

Of course, I'm thinking JBL Paragon. She's thinking Magnavox console.
We shall see....

Just don't tell her what it costs.....Paragons are beautiful.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

How much of the decline of interest in home stereo systems for young people is due to a lack of good modern music for their age group, and the lack of good music being made a symptom of the youngsters not having been exposed to it in their teens? A vicious circle in other words..?

Young people are discovering wonderfully great music, but their criteria for enjoyment is different. When you and I were growing up it was about a receiver, a turntable and speakers, perhaps even a R2R, but today it's about convenience and as much access as you can find. They want their music on the go and they want it everywhere and everytime. To them it's not about quality, it's about access to the songs they like. The bottom line is that they are still enjoying the music.

 

[NorthStar]

About a good pair of stereo headphones? ...From your home stereo system at home.

 

[JackD201]

I love the photo and caption in the article that says (i'm paraphrasing): 'Once, back in the old days, whole stores were devoted to the sale of stereo gear.'
I don't think we've seen the demise of the home stereo.
A local business, better known for designing furniture for fairly high-end chain retailers, is now doing pretty well with 'fashionista' hi-fi items for the retro-chic home owner.
When I was in an oddball store in Austin over the winter, I came upon a vintage pair of speaker cabinets, can't remember what they were, custom made probably at the time, with period drivers in them. The guy had them hooked up to a mid-fi receiver and they actually sounded pretty good.
My wife, who has tolerated my hi-fi lunacy for almost 3 decades, even suggested the other day that at some point we do a retro system in the living space of our next place- not meant as serious gear, but some period thing with a record changer or old dog table. I have a ton of vintage RCA novelty records from the 50's and 60's, including all those bachelor records- Esquivel in Space, Music for a Backyard BBQ, etc. Of course, I'm thinking JBL Paragon. She's thinking Magnavox console.
We shall see....

There you go again Bill! I've been dreaming up a mid-century modern vacation house and the system to go with it was to look period correct but with modern electronics hidden away. I was thinking JBL too but smaller ones with no stands. 4 series keeps jumping in my head. Altecs are too large for what I'm planning. No LP playback though as I like all my records in one place.

Then all I'll need for the iPad remote to look time warped is a smoking jacket, one of these............

 

[rockitman]

Perhaps the future generation listeners are dead...rather undead as some sort of musical zombies ?

 

[JackD201]

That's what every generation says about the one that succeeds it.

 

[rockitman]

That's what every generation says about the one that succeeds it.

Yes, the older generations rule. We are in decline with each passing generation, IMO.

 

[JackD201]

When I was younger I always thought I'd be able to really get what my future children would listen to. I have to admit that it is getting harder and harder to do that and my eldest is a newly minted teen. On the other hand, as I got older, I started listening to music my folks liked and even supply my folks with new music thus bridging the gap. Maybe it's just cyclical and one day my kids will be giving me stuff to listen to (that I like) too.

 

[rockitman]

Of course I was talking more than music. The new generations have a lot tougher road a head to reach their dreams. They must be educated in science, math and engineering. That is where the future is for this and the next generations.

 

[JackD201]

I agree and hinted at such in post #2.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

When I was younger I always thought I'd be able to really get what my future children would listen to. I have to admit that it is getting harder and harder to do that and my eldest is a newly minted teen. On the other hand, as I got older, I started listening to music my folks liked and even supply my folks with new music thus bridging the gap. Maybe it's just cyclical and one day my kids will be giving me stuff to listen to (that I like) too.

This pretty much mirrors my experience as well and agree that it may indeed be cyclical.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Of course I was talking more than music. The new generations have a lot tougher road a head to reach their dreams. They must be educated in science, math and engineering. That is where the future is for this and the next generations.

Unitl the majority of them are trained in science, math and engineering and American businesses discover that they have mulitple layers of management that can't write a paragraph that gets its point across, or communicate a concept without a spreadsheet. Then English, Communications, who knows? Philosophy majors may become the next hot commodity.

We've already got American corporations packed with MBAs who can't communicate anything too complex to fit into bullet points in a Power Point presentation and who are trained to be "managers," attempting unsuccessfully to manage things they've never actually been involved in and can't pretend to understand. Next up? Everybody will be trained in Science and Engineering, and they'll rise through the ranks to attempt to manage marketing and procurement, and human resources, etc.

Welcome to the Peter Priinciple of the new millenium. I think I'm ready for retirement now...

Tim