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Home » Audio » General » Attracting Non-Audiophiles To High End Audio
| Attracting Non-Audiophiles To High End Audio [message #60558] |
Sun, 09 August 2009 07:20  |
AudioFred
Messages: 377
Registered: May 2009
Location: Houston
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Illuminati (1st Degree) |
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Houston, we have a problem. Our oldest high end audio store, and one of only two that displays two-channel gear in a city of 4 million inhabitants, Audio Concepts, closed its doors last month. Almost everybody likes music and listens to it regularly in their car. Many listen on their computers or their iPods, but few are buying even mass market home audio equipment, and almost none are buying high end equipment.
My solution to this problem is very simple, it's just not the solution most audiophiles (or any high end audio dealers) want to hear: Let people hear what high end can sound like on my audiophile system, then help them choose the compoenents they can afford to build a mass market system.
Some ideas I've considered, but which I believe are not practical for non-audiophiles, are:
1) Building a high end system from scratch. Few people, even those with lots of disposable income, aren't willing to spend the $1.5K minimum needed to buy even an entry level system.
2) Buying used equipment. Non-audiophiles know nothing about what brands are good, what works together, etc. Also, they have no experience with used audio equipment and would be concerned about getting ripped off.
3) DIY. Not a practical alternative for somebody with no knowledge or skills.
One idea that may be viable is to start with whatever they are now using as a source, such as an iPod or a computer, and build a system around that.
What do you think?
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| Re: Attracting Non-Audiophiles To High End Audio [message #60559 is a reply to message #60558] |
Sun, 09 August 2009 08:00  |
Bob Brines
Messages: 186
Registered: May 2009
Location: Hot Springs Village, AR
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Master |
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Fred, I'm with you!
Of course, my speakers are a bit above your price point -- $825 for what I consider "entry level", but the basic point remains. Plugging decent speakers in ANY consumer grade amp gives pretty good sound.
The problems with the decreasing audio market are:
1. Since the advent of TV, Internet and computer games, very few people either have the time or are willing to take the time to set down for an hour and listen to music.
2. When people listen to music it is in the car or on the iPod. This sound is the standard the Hi-Fi is measured against.
3. Current pop music sounds horrible on ANY system. However, it sounds worse on a good system. Have you tried to listen to any of this crap on your 2-channel? The guy in the street listens to current pop crap on a good system and comes to the conclusion that it is the SYSTEM that is bad.
4. Americans are driven by price. Quality is irrelevant. Given the choice between quality and price, the average consumer will choose price every time.
Fortunately, there will always be a few people that will listen to music. They are out there. As the high end stores continue to close, more and more of these folks are forced to take a gamble on Internet shops like me. In fact, business is starting to pic up. I have two orders in hand at this moment.
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| Re: Attracting Non-Audiophiles To High End Audio [message #60560 is a reply to message #60559] |
Sun, 09 August 2009 08:15 |
AudioFred
Messages: 377
Registered: May 2009
Location: Houston
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Illuminati (1st Degree) |
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| Bob Brines wrote on Sun, 09 August 2009 08:00 | Fred,
Fortunately, there will always be a few people that will listen to music. They are out there. As the high end stores continue to close, more and more of these folks are forced to take a gamble on Internet shops like me. In fact, business is starting to pic up. I have two orders in hand at this moment.
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I agree the internet is the future of high end audio. A few residence-based sellers may also survive.
I also agree (if I understood you correctly) that the speakers are the most important variable in the audio chain. It's not that the other components don't matter, but that the minimum needed to get good sounding speakers is greater than the minimum needed to get acceptable electronic components. If a friend told me he has a mass market DVD player, HT receiver, zip cord cables, and generic speakers, and he has a $1K budget for to upgrade his system, I would recommend he spend the full $1K on upgrading his speakers.
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| Re: Attracting Non-Audiophiles To High End Audio [message #60561 is a reply to message #60558] |
Sun, 09 August 2009 09:55 |
Shane
Messages: 1117
Registered: May 2009
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Illuminati (3rd Degree) |
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As someone who enjoys the high end gear, but could never justify spending a lot, I think I fall into a middle category. When I bought my first "system" back when I was a freshman in high school, I bought a set of speakers before I even had any other components. I bought the best sounding ones to me that I could afford, then 6 months later got a receiver and listened to radio for 6 more months before I got a cassette deck, then a CDP as they were coming out. None of my gear is even remotely high end. The 12B4 Abraxas amp is probably the closest. I've got some Carver, Kenwood (70's), and some NAD SS gear as well. Then the DIY stuff which is entry level stuff. Generic cables and IC's. My NAD stuff goes into some little Polk Audio bookshelves for the living room and they sound quite nice for what they are.
We only have two stereo shops here in Amarillo, and neither carries very high end stuff. One Mac, the other B&W and such. You mention tubes or a turntable and they start to reminisce about the good old days. I bought a 1/2 dozen LP's at a city wide garage sale yesterday and the guy asks me if I collect them (he had several 1000 there). I told him that I play them, not collect them. He didn't even know they still made equipment to utilize vinyl. They were all his albums and he said he couldn't play them anymore as his TT had died 20 years ago. So there is unawareness even among those that listened to music.
I don't discount the sound of an IPod. If you put lossless music on one and run it through a good head-amp using the LOD connection into good cans, it can rival any high end stereo rig in my opinion. Unfortunately that is a small section of the population that uses that kind of setup. Dedicated they are, though. People just tend to discount headphone listening all together which is too bad. Because I can get into a complete headphone rig for less than $1K that is very nice.
Current pop music is made to be played through earbuds and factory car systems and is compressed to death. Some car systems sound phenomenal if done right. One of the best sounding systems, home or car, I've ever heard was the Clarion salesman's car system. He used 4 6.5" speakers individually amped for the low end, then a few mids and tweeters throughout the car. Not the boomy bass most go for, but a tight, quick bass that when eq'd through a digital setup was very balanced and "correct". He probably had about $3K in it. There is a very visceral feeling to listening to a hard rock CD in a car that is quite similar to being at the concert. One of the reasons I appreciate a good car setup.
But there is a lot of badly recorded music. There is an awful lot of poorly recorded classical music, especially anything "live". Sounds like it's coming from another room around the corner with a door shut. Now not all is that way, but most of the stuff I've heard is, which is one reason I can't get into it as much as I would like.
I think the small shows like LSAF give the public an opportunity to hear what can be done, and Fred's room showed that you don't need a lot of money to get good sound. I guess I'll never have a decent system as I can't bring myself to spend $3-5K on audio gear. Mortgages, car payments, and kids take care of that 
Well, I've rambled on and lost the point all together.
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| Re: Attracting Non-Audiophiles To High End Audio [message #60627 is a reply to message #60558] |
Wed, 19 August 2009 03:19 |
PR Audio
Messages: 23
Registered: July 2009
Location: Southern IL / Western KY
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Chancellor |
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I'll try to contribute more thoughts here when (if) I can get a little more time, but, 1st, you all have made some quite good observations.
Steve, in specific response to your comment about quality, I think that when it comes to many areas, people have simply been "dumbed down", and manufacturers for the most part now expect this type of consumer. In other words, most manufacturers don't think their customers will really expect all that much from them, and customers figure that's how they'll be treated and approached, and are too lazy(?) / busy / whatever to do anything but oblige them.
It's much like my old assistant at Credence: She figures ALL politicians are crooks, so, (paraphrasal) "might as well vote for whoever promises the most goodies and hope they come through with some of it." No attempt is made to hold said politicians to a higher standard. (I really think this points toward a sort of moral decay in our society, but I suppose that's a subject for an entirely different thread!)
Going back to "high end" (or even halfway decent audio), what we have is a vast majority of people who don't hold themselves or vendors of audio products to much of an expectation. Probably the most common phrase I hear is "Oh, I probably couldn't tell the difference" (in sound quality). But, the great majority of people to whom I get a chance to demonstrate the difference, between simply "good" sound, and the average of what people are listening to, CAN tell a difference, and some, when they find out that they can "build up to it", and not have to spend a whole ton of money, get interested in doing so. The main thing is to get 'em interested, and I think that's Fred's point about what he's trying to do.
At LSAF '09, a group of us ended up in Keith Larson's room, late Sat., and this was one of the topics that came up, at least in relation to getting more attendance at LSAF, general interest in audio, and so on. I made the suggestion that somehow combining some sort of audio demos / shows with other events that already draw people in would perhaps be useful. I'm toying with the idea myself. For example, from Section 270.65 of the Illinois Administrative Rules for the "DuQuoin State Fair":
Section 270.65 Policy of Permitting Space Without Monetary Charge
To promote the dissemination of free information and/or to provide for the free entertainment of fairgoers, the Department may provide space and/or facilities to exhibitors without monetary charge for industrial, cultural, educational, trade and/or scientific exhibits, provided that the exhibits fit into the general theme of the State Fair, space is available, and no direct sales to the public are made on the fairgrounds.
So, potentially I could go up there and put up a "non-sales" type exhibit, and many thousands of people would walk by, daily. Then I just need something to get some of 'em to come in. (My 21" woofer? Free Lemonade? Free Water? [Hey, Murdale Water District, #3 in the USA for best water in 2006!])
Ok, granted, an outdoor fair in August in So. IL might be, umm, "sticky" (hot and humid.) And I'd have to come up with a tent / booth. But, there are all sorts of other kinds of events and festivals, too...
I have some other thoughts regarding getting people interested, through the avenue of A-V. I'll try to get some time to get those thoughts organized and posted, uh -- sometime!
Come visit!
www.praudio.com/site/
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