This was a great read. As someone still new to this hobby, and younger (mid-30s), one trend stands out. High quality audio, video, and video games are plentiful and easy to consume. Even easier as streaming is here for all three. Younger people like to consume all kinds of media wherever they are, not just two channel music at home. Traditional audiophile gear doesn't doesn't provide an experience so much better that they're willing to invest huge sums of money and completely change how they consume media.
While some of you look at a $100k two channel system as the pinnacle of the music experience, a 20 year old would see it as spending a college education's worth of money on something they would never use. So yeah, companies that only make these components are going to suffer. It is a companies job to adapt to changing customer demands (insert trope about how millennials "killed" another industry here.)
The simple truth, though, is that younger people
have no money to spend. You just can't sell many $5,000+ non-essential goods to consumers that may only have $5,000 of disposable income in a year. Brands that find ways to offer high value will thrive, especially as younger generations are
looking more for value and social responsibility than pinnacle performance or exclusivity. Add in that many people just don't have the energy to devote to this hobby, and it's hard to even start to convince them to spend their money differently.
There will be plenty of high quality audio gear in the future. It just won't look the same. I say bring on some actually good HTIB bundles and soundbar systems to attract more people into the hobby without all the complexity and stress.
Edit: I am using "younger" and "millennials" as a proxy for people who are younger in the hobby. I am assuming teens and twenties aged people are less likely to spend significant money on audio gear. I would not assume they inherently have more/less interest in the hobby.
