Whatever Happened to Hi-Fi, the American Pastime of a Passed Time?

[Islander]

It could be yet another Baby Boomer thing. The hi-fi market got very big as a large segment of the population reached audio-buying age, and declined as that segment moved on to other things.

This would not apply to everyone, but many buyers, of mid-fi at least, were stoners who sat around with their stoner buddies enjoying music, especially in the Seventies. Eventually they got more demanding jobs, and had less time and interest in sitting around listening to music.

Some might have been out doing sports, like cycling or scuba diving or motorcycling, but the era, or maybe the life stage of that group, changed with the times.

In the Seventies and Eighties, there were lots of audio stores. Some, like Hi-Fi Express in Toronto, seemed to be adding stores on a monthly basis, but eventually grew too big for their market, and folded after a few years. Fairview Electronics was also big in Toronto then, and advertised a lot on the rock FM stations. I remember buying my Dynaco A-25 speakers there.

Here's one of their radio ads:

Pete & Geets: Fairview Electronics Commercial Gone Wrong:

Pete & Geets were popular DJs at the time, but they split up, and their show is long gone. So is Fairview Electronics. CFNY-102.1 is still on the air. Now they're called The Edge, and they're a popular New Music station.

Music listening as a group activity seems to be a thing of the past. Now it seems to be done by a few true believers, mostly by themselves. Among my present circle of friends, I'm the only one who could be called an audiophile, or even a "stereo guy".

We have very few audio specialty shops here on the south end of the Island. Conveniently, two are across the street from each other. Sound Hounds carries high-end gear, and Q-Electronic sells vintage gear. That's where I found my La Scalas. Both are great shops, and great people to deal with. I've bought gear from both, and always been happy.

I've added links to their websites so you can get an idea of the state of the market in one town in 2013. I hadn't looked at their websites for some time, and both seem to have been recently upgraded. That's certainly a good sign. The hi-fi market may be much smaller than it used to be, but the buyers are loyal. Have we become an audio cult?

Sound Hounds: http://www.soundhounds.com/

Q-Electronic: http://www.q-electronic.com/

The Sound Hounds page has a survey for you to choose your favourite music format. Vote and see what's popular here. It might surprise you.

[Mallette]

Music listening as a group activity seems to be a thing of the past.

Precisely, and after being an integral part of human history ever since we became human one must ask "why" and for how long. I don't believe this to be permanent. The past 30 years have been exceptional in all history. Few truly comprehend what's happened. Most seem to barely notice, but these changes are breathtaking to me. For one who has gone from visiting relatives without electricity or plumbing to carrying a phone that can tap all the accumulated knowledge of the human race isn't merely "progress" to me but like being tranported to another age entirely from where I began.

While this is not only not going to go away but accelerate to realms for my son I cannot begin to visualize, I think music will find it's way back into life from the depths the industry has taken it to by not having a clue as to how to respond. The gist of my piece is just that: Complete failure of an industry to apply technology with the second part of the issue being the average persons complete ignorance of how sophisticated their hearing actually is.

Thier brains can definitely tell the difference between an mp3 with most of the "music" part removed, but they suffer the symptoms without even realizing there is a cure. They can tell that "stereo" really is incapable of rendering a realistic image and it's boring compared to Star Wars and been immersion in a 3 dimensional, if totally contrived, sound field. They have the equipment to reproduce this, but no media except movies that do not require thought and no source material properly engineered to accurately produce a real-world acoustic (or studio built, for that matter) space/time event.

Dave

[Zen Traveler]

I have no idea if this is pertinent or helpful but saw this on AVS in post #89: http://www.avsforum.com/t/1284516/master-list-of-blu-ray-audio-titles/60

[Mallette]

I couldn't tell whether it was pertinent or helpful either. Went down the page and couldn't really tell what they were discussing, got tired and gave up. What little I saw suggested they weren't happy with what surround mixes they were hearing. I also saw some reference to a 9.1 release being made. Not sure what you do with the other 5 redundant channels (OK, I know what the too much bass one is for) unless it's just to provide multidimensional pingpong.

Dave

[Islander]

Music listening as a group activity seems to be a thing of the past.

Precisely, and after being an integral part of human history ever since we became human one must ask "why" and for how long. I don't believe this to be permanent.

There was a piece on the radio today about meditation and the current need to be doing something or several things at all times. Just sitting around listening to music is seen by many as a waste of time and a sign of being some kind of slacker.

I hope people can find the reward of just being and experiencing again, without feeling the need to be "doing" every waking minute.

A few months ago, I asked in the General section whether anyone here felt guilty when listening to music instead of "doing something", and most replied No. I hope we're not the only ones with that attitude.