In what might be the biggest blow on the press side of the industry, Stereophile, a U.S. based audiophile print publication, watched its parent company, Source Interlink, file for bankruptcy in a bid to restructure their debt. Other magazines have lost circulation, let staff go, or have shut down completely, as is the case with a few well known European publications. Advertising revenue has been shrinking steadily, as well as attendance at high end audio trade shows.

Looking Ahead

Is it all gloom and doom? No, not really.  The high end audio industry has looked towards the future with many designers betting on the future of computer based music systems.A number of new DAC technologies have appeared, and companies like Soolos, Olive,NuForce, Sonos, and many others have brought to market audiophile grade music servers that work perfectly well with traditional high end components. At the budget end of the spectrum, Cambridge Audio’s DacMagic and and Musical Fidelity V-DAC, both under $500, have garnered universal praise for their price performance ratio.

All these products seem to be converging with the much anticipated death of physical media, with all signs pointing to high resolution downloads as the way consumers, or a at least audiophiles, will purchase music. Even the personal computer industry is positioning itself for a cash-in, with audiophile grade tweaks such as high end sound cards, high quality network connections, aftermarket power cords, silent fans, and touch screen monitors.

The irony of the situation is that, if left up to many audiophiles, the hobby would continue to shrink to prevent any watering down of the quality of product offerings, keep out the non believers, and shake out any half-hearted hobbyists.  While this may have a romantic glow to it, without revenue and customers, high end companies cannot continue to make ends meet, introduce new products, or stay in business to service legacy products. One may argue that high end audio is a luxury market and, as with all downturns, it is cyclical. However, many would agree it may never have been this bad. 

Hopefully what goes down must go back up. The consensus among industry experts is that as long as audiophiles remain passionate about excellent sound, technologies advance to become more affordable, and younger people are exposed to the hobby, it will continue to attract new interest. I for one agree.

* Special Thanks to James Tanner of Bryston and Ken Dawkins of THIEL for their insight!

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speeddeacon  - More to the story of the decline of high end audio   |2009-12-03 21:56:10 Very interesting summa 0   0

speeddeacon  - More to the story of the decline of high end audio   |2009-12-03 21:56:35 Very interesting summary on the state of the industry. The comments at the end are well heeded about audiophiles attitudes aiding the demise of the hobby. I think that the combination of the internet and "upscaling" the products carried by the likes of Crutchfield, Amazon and Best Buy, is also also crippling the brick and mortar businesses. While Thiel, mentioned here, was, and still is, an outstanding speaker crafter, seeing their products in the Crutchfield catalog alongside mostly Asian mass market pieces significantly reduces the desire and exclusivity of ownership for audiophiles. The masses may being buying these because they see a higher price than Bose and think it is better stuff, but the audiophile will look elsewhere for exclusivity. It would be similar to Armani or Rolex being sold at Wal-Mart. Yes, call us snobs because it really is true, but audiophiles do have a very high sense of pride of ownership. Another part of the equation, and ultimately more important for audiophiles, is the lack of genuinely high quality programming and poor support of high rez media as evidenced by Telarc and others pulling the plug on SACD sowftware. My personal buying of new music has diminished exponentionally because there just isn't much new music being released that interests me. About all I buy now is an occasional high rez version of something I already own, or the newest release of a particular artist that I like, but both of those don't amount to a couple of purchases a month, whereas it used to be three or four times that many. And lastly, there are just so many other entertainment options that vie for our attention that audiophiles may have a little less devotion to the hobby. With high definition in it's various sources, even the somewhat mundane programming sparks interest due to the wow factor of the high quality of image and audio. Having made these observations, it never ceases to astound me to see any number of new companies entering into the high end market. Perusing the pages of any audio rag will reveal companies that didn't exist 10, 5, or even 2 years ago. How anyone can compete in a shrinking market and down turned economy is beyond my comprehension. But maybe, just maybe, they will provide the breath of fresh air the hobby needs to survive. 0   0

Andre marc  - author     |2009-12-04 08:34:15 Excellent points SpeedDeacon. I agree with all your observations, and have at one point had discussions about concerning these points. It DOES amaze me how many new companies enter the shrinking marketplace. 0   0

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