[imcarthur]

As I said in the post above, I am in the industry. I have worked primarily at the national distributor level – both Canada & US, so I sell to the stores that sell to you. As with most careers, my business card has changed numerous times but after 30 years, I’m truly good for nothing else. I have sold a lot of high end product in the past; the good, the bad (not too much thankfully - I was always non-Japanese upper-end) & the ugly (I could tell you stories . . .).

There are the creds, now back to my topic. Over the past 20 years, there has been a gradual shrinking of the high end audio market. Why?

1. CD.

When CD players hit, consumers went on a spending spree. They bought the “Perfect Forever” Sony dribble & also bought amps & speakers & MIT cable etc etc fueling a HiFi boom that lasted until the 90s. But CD also eliminated the biggest need for a specialist: the turntable setup. Anybody could setup a CD player, but only a specialist could do a Hadcock with a Koetsu Black on an Oracle. With the virtual disappearance of the turntable (except as a fringe device) so disappeared the need for a hi-fi specialist with his bag of tricks (mixed with a heavy dose of fairy dust). Now you could buy it at a box store for 40% off. Why pay a specialist MSRP?

2. Video.

Then the populace was sold home theater. Big-$ss TVs or projectors. And that’s where the $s were spent, with only a piddling amount left for 5 speakers – no longer just 2. And 5 channel amps with hundreds of buttons & settings to screw up the sound with. And the wife had a thing or 2 to say about those boxes for the first time. HiFi used to be guy stuff. Video changed that. We all brought it home with the promise: Sure it’s big & ugly, but the whole family can use it! But we opened the door & now style is often the primary buying criteria. What ever happened to how it sounds?

3. Internet.

Internet shopping is fun, easy & you sure save dollars. Right out of your local retailer’s pocket. Sure, go to his store & waste his time auditioning stuff. Then go home & buy it for 30% off from a guy with a website in Buttplug, New Jersey (no offense meant to NJ, but they do congregate there). Soon that hifi store on the corner will go away or he’ll change into a dealer selling nothing but #4 below. But I bet you can still get a good demo at Best Buy . . . Oh & let’s not forget about downloading & MP3s etc. It’s simultaneously killing the media purchases & lowering the quality level in one fell swoop.

4. Custom

Not really high end, but it sucks high end dollars. Control & lighting consume such a large part of the budget that all you’re left with is Chinese-made cheapo in wall speakers driven by 15wpc class D keypad amps.

So, we killed the store, we killed the music, we killed the media, but we can turn it on or off from any room in the house!

----- End of Rant -----

Ian