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**Bill Hart** · 09-20-2016, 05:06 PM

The Noose- (sorry, I don't know your proper name): I think the article in some ways states the obvious in terms of the general financial situation (e.g. the global meltdown) and oversimplifies the solutions- e.g. make more high end equipment available for purchase via online retailers. I'm a little younger than the author, but one of the first high-end systems I heard, a little later in the '60s, was also a double set of KLH 9s driven by Marantz tube amps (of '60s vintage, though then they were new). Looking back, this stuff may seem like a relative bargain by today's prices, but it was expensive, and very few people, to my knowledge, had such equipment in their home. To get music at home, they might spend enough for a decent console system in the '60s, or by the '70s, when the solid state receiver and bookshelf speaker became ubiquitous, buy what--by the standards of the time--was a a "good" average consumer hi-fi and be done with it. The market for high-end at that time (when The Absolute Sound and Stereophile were flourishing) was a niche, and the hobby was also something that people with disposable income were willing to buy into. Today, though the prices are magnitudes greater for the "uber" gear, I think the relative size of the market may be about the same- on the one hand, you have a lot of people who have large amounts of money (many more millionaires than in the '60s, though being a millionaire isn't all that meaningful today) and probably about the same proportion of the population that is willing and able to spend a considerable sum for hi-fi gear. Despite all the hand-wringing over the last several decades about the "death of the high end," I don't think many companies are in this market to make big money and don't think 6 figure components are ever going to be attractive to the vast majority of people who just want something that "sounds good."
We are, for better or worse, hobbyists-- some who are building or designing their own gear, some who can afford to buy the best new, and a considerable number who put systems together by upgrading or buying used, to assemble what they want over time. However we got here, I think it takes a special sort to say, "you know, I'm going to go spend 20 or 50 or 100 thousand dollars on an [amplifier/pair of speakers/turntable/whatever]. Most folks I know that are in a position to do that want to hear it first- and that may mean a hi-fi show, dealer showroom, or ideally, but probably most difficult, home trial.
Set up is key. Turntables require some know-how to set-up. You don't have to be an MIT graduate, but you do have to know something. So, direct to consumer for that may work on the lower end, but I doubt it's going to be very helpful without a local set up person, dealer or knowledgeable friend.
The idea of the "pop-up" store is a good one, and might enable manufacturers and dealers to expand their reach to areas that don't have permanent dealerships-- at least in the States, there are apparently vast areas where no good dealer exists.
Internationally, I cannot address what happens in the Mid-East. Leaving aside some of the cultural issues, I know for people with means, there is always a way--there were a number of people involved in exotic cars who were very serious about the pursuit located in various Mid-Eastern countries. I suspect the same is true in Russia and China. But perhaps this is only the very wealthy and the professional class and others with good incomes, but without unlimited funds, find it much more difficult to acquire the hi-fi gear they want.
At bottom, most of the favored hi-end manufacturers are relatively small shops. (Yes, some have been acquired or backed by larger corporations, but I think that's the minority). At least in the States, where there is no dealer, people get their exposure by traveling to high end audio shows. (Whether they actually make a purchasing decision based on a show audition is something I am not sure about).
To paraphrase Mark Twain, the death of the hi-end has been greatly exaggerated. In fact, if you look at the history of the motor car (something arguably more essential to most people than a decent hi-fi system), you will see that some of the greatest cars in the history of the industry were built on the cusp, or in the midst of the Great Depression of the 1930's.
So, I don't think there is a direct correlation between the general state of the economy for average people and what people who are buying luxury goods of any kind (houses, cars, yachts, horses, art, etc) are willing to spend for their toys.

**MylesBAstor** · 09-25-2016, 05:07 PM

Another side of the global economy?

**TheNoose** · 10-02-2016, 07:39 AM

Bill, John here, thanks for a thorough review of the article. Today the geography of hi Fi is very very different to the 60/70's and even 80/90's. Largely outside of the USA. China Europe and Asia are renaissance markets for hi Fi production and consumption. The result is spillage back into the USA. Second trend I see is the ongoing rise of artisinal producers in the USA, as well as China and of course Japan was always there.
Because of the Internet we are far more connected between consumer and supplier limited only by our imagination and skill to use the Internet. Recently an American movie enthusiast was showing off his USA and UK copies of the UHD release of the movie Lucy.
Each market segment is now a global segment, with local variations in distribution, supply chain, retail access and consumer culture. In my region there are retail outlets handling low, mid and hi end, just no Shows. No interest groups...I might start one in due course.

The combination of global and local are what defines the new world of this hobby and its associated industry for me. And the widening perspectives of lifestyle and portability are expanding trends driving technology further along in all segments too.

**Bill Hart** · 10-02-2016, 09:29 AM

Hi, John. Hard to argue with your observations about the combined effects of global markets and localized businesses. I suspect as digital continues to improve- both on the recording and playback sides, this will be a standard for high end in the home and analog only will be relegated to an even smaller niche within a niche. (Despite the so-called "boom" in vinyl sales, most of which seem to be derived from digital masters anyway, if not natively recorded in digital; my suspicion is that the bump in vinyl is not a reflection of the growth of the high end crowd).
The other aspect to "market segments" is, for lack of a better term, the various "camps" or approaches to home reproduction at the high end- from the horn/SET crowd, to the big, power hungry dynamic speaker set up, to the modern, high tech front end (whether analog or digital) to the retro-antiquarian crowd. In a lot of cases, these different market segments or mindsets/approaches really don't cross-over much, but have benefitted enormously from the exchange of information on the Internet.
I suppose you are correct that much of the renaissance is occurring outside of the U.S. and trickling back to us here--there is certainly a wide range of gear that I see photos of at Munich that never make it to these shores. But, without sounding nationalistic about it, think about how Lamm really brought SET into the mainstream of high end--if not by volume of sales, then at least by recognition that his SET was a real world product that sounded good. I suppose there are other examples from the States, too. It almost doesn't matter where the gear is made, which is, i think, one of your points--distribution is the harder problem (leaving aside issues like reliability and support). I think one of the biggest challenges to the high end is one that has existed from the get-go: rationalizing the expense and trouble of it (learning curve, product selection, set up and maintenance) to new entrants. None of that is daunting to the hobbyist, but has been an obstacle to the effort to reach a broader audience of potential buyers.

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Where is the industry headed...? Hi Fi and Video in a Globalized Economy...

Where is the industry headed...? Hi Fi and Video in a Globalized Economy...

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