Will Traditional Audio Brands like Pioneer, Denon, Marantz and Klipsch survive?

[@victorjohnson7512]

Young people are not buying HiFi. They stream garbage music on Bluetooth headphones or through their TV sound bar. The market for traditional component audio systems is now a niche market for middle aged men.

[@RoastBeefSandwich]

Component systems are old technology. Very few people want, or have space for, all of that today.

[@audibleeleganceinc]

I think your comment is somewhat true in terms of wanting it or having the space. It also depends upon what level of quality you see as sufficient. You can go down any grocery store isle and see all sorts of prepared foods in the frozen food section. Quick, easy, disposable. They are not served in good restaurants.

[@audibleeleganceinc]

Oh, I think there is a lot more to the equation than that. Frankly, the cost of many things including a place to live has dramatically changed the resources available. I am rather personally horrified at what I see being charged for rent not even getting to the cost of a home and interest. Add the inflation on food, insurances, phones, you name it and you have to ask the magic question: Where is the money for this going to come from? Now even streaming prices are going up seriously.

[@adsph]

thanks for sharing Lou

[@Pksparty2112]

Curious if when they list Klipsch are they talking about the home theater models only, black cabinets with gold drivers? Is there separation between them and the Arkansas made Heritage line?

[@audibleeleganceinc]

I really do not know about that. I know there there is a great deal of concern about how the heritage line is being sold to both brick & mortar stores and now mail order operations.

[@rickc661]

I gotta think >> my only example would be lack of ' audio stores'. even / Especially the ' Mall shops ' which were a horrid place to listen BUT at least they had 10 different varieties or more of speakers, T'tables etc etc. . there is little market. Folks that in 1970's having their first real jobs, disposable income came from BEATLEMANIA - IT WAS GOOD . Now, what is their priority ( 20 somethings with their first income ) - $ 75 thou trucks with boombox stereos and ' Puter games... ??

[@audibleeleganceinc]

Well, change is what makes the world go round. Certainly I don't make it necessary for them to have the same opinions as mine. As they don't agree with all of mine, I don't agree with all of theirs. It's good. I am thankful that in my early days I could actually afford a home and a car without fear of losing either. I truly feel sorry for those who now pay in rent what was twice my home payment. It is hard for me to fathom.

[@jamesschneider3828]

When these old 60’s 70’s and 80’s brands have been bought and sold so many times they will never have the status of their older counterparts. The only one that is relevant today is Marantz and I believe are about 40% over valued for their quality.

[@audibleeleganceinc]

Personally speaking, I think many of the Marantz products of that era are seriously overrated musically and bested by other brands like Sansui, Pioneer, and even JVC. The only Marantz piece of that era that I find totally fascinating and superb is the 1030 integrated amplifier. It was truly the Naim Nait of its day. I have tried the rest, time and time again and, quite honestly, found myself disappointed. The Marantz image was founded on the 7C and the range of vacuum tube amplifiers of that era including the Model 9s. I owned them. But, there are folks who like what they hear out of them and if they are happy with it, well, fine. It's neither my cup of tea or a tea I recommend. We definitely agree on one thing: Overpriced today. I just saw a 2270 receiver and the asking price was $2500. To me, the decimal place is misplaced. I sold that era of product and I know.

[@mikeg2491]

“We can’t let the cure be worse than the problem itself”

[@audibleeleganceinc]

Well, this is not a "special" problem of audio but rather the nature of business and acquisitions. You can go through the history of automobiles, for example, and see where such events occurred ultimately having the large conglomerate collapse upon itself. What has compressed the time-line is the whipsaw effect of pre-covid, covid, and a post covid economy which included monetary stimulations with the resulting inflation and interest rates. Investments made pre-covid may have looked good but once it was put through the washer and dryer, it shrunk. Banks don't care. Debt is debt and scheduled payments are that, scheduled.

[@mikeg2491]

@ fair enough, Covid may have sped up what was destined to happen. But I know a lot of businesses particularly local who are no longer with us because of the lockdowns and monetary police of the feds, it’s just sad that’s all.

[@audibleeleganceinc]

@@mikeg2491 Without question, your observation is correct. The lockdowns were a complete disaster for us as well. We are fortunate in being one of the survivors but it was not without casualties.

[@TomSherwood-z5l]

I now wonder if McIntosh will get the full treatment from selling out, and we will see black plastic front Macs with lots of little black buttons. My gear is all vintage or pre disease. I think the market is saturated, with cheap import audio gear, and people that would rather listen with earbuds instead of quality loudspeakers. Not much discrimination by consumers but there maybe never was, as there have always been cheap package gear and mid low fi. Just not enough young people being introduced to actual high fidelity. As ear buds and phones can sound decent I suppose if not fantastic.

[@audibleeleganceinc]

I have played with streaming/portable devices/headphones (not ear buds, they hurt me) and I will say some of it can sound quite acceptable in terms of musicality but not any sort of sense of being at a performance. I see it as two issues, intertwined. First, not all streaming is particularly good and so lower resolution systems do not reveal that lack of quality making the experience passable. Conversely, lower quality streaming, which is quite common, undermines the performance of higher quality systems. Secondly, more music is being compressed limiting any sort of dynamic range and sometimes the clarity itself. Again, lower resolution systems do not necessarily reveal this type of musical recording. At the moment, I don't see any earth shattering changes to McIntosh. Many people forget that at one time McIntosh was owned by Clarion, best known for car stereo. Yet, here they are today. So, it's a wait and see game over a longer period of time.

[@shadowofpain8144]

Most likely drm prevents innovation cd players that upsample to dsd have i2s play sacd mqa R2R dacs small runs unique specialized. They will stay with building a billion AV gear because giant tv ht is the numbers to pay the licensing.

[@TomSherwood-z5l]

Rough translation?:

[@sounddoctor5decades]

The industry has been dead since the mid 90's

[@audibleeleganceinc]

Oh, I do think that is a bit of an overstatement. The industry was evolving with audio becoming involved in home theater leading to various complications for both manufacturers and dealers alike. Meanwhile, there became less dominant music trends other than the "rock and rolling" of country music leaving the movie industry a lot of playground to enjoy. You also had the "shopping mall syndrome" occurring with a lot of multi-room audio where the spread of the music throughout the home took priority over any sort of "man cave." I don't see this as "dead" as much as a continuing change in the forms of mediocrity which has always been present in the industry.

[@sounddoctor5decades]

@audibleeleganceinc actually I was a long time dealer that established many of the lines as independent vendors, multiple dealer of the year nominee, relationships with the likes of gordon gow, paul klipsch, henry kloss, sandy gross, Mathew polk, niro nakamichi, and on and on. The industry was destroyed through the abandonment of the independent dealer network for big box which led to the massive consolidation of the industry.

[@audibleeleganceinc]

@@sounddoctor5decades Now that, I do fully agree and it also began with "custom installers" being granted lines without displays or overhead. I was stabbed in the back numerous times by manufacturers who said they served a different market when we, ourselves, were already doing it. The industry did a lot to put itself exactly where it is today which is to become dependent upon stronger and stronger mail order firms like someone becoming dependent upon drugs while destroying independents. Amazon and it's tax free game certainly did not help either. Any yet, today, there are some mail order houses advertising tax free when, for most states, that is very untrue. It's just leaving the buyers open to actions from the state.

[@sounddoctor5decades]

@@audibleeleganceinc yup, its sad, nowhere broadly to listen, so consolidation, and vast reduction in customers leading to esoteric products being priced out of market and due to lack of exposure, the vast majority think good hifi is an iPhone and Bose Bluetooth wireless headphones, just pathetic. Also the march of mp3 and so called "lossless" formats that quite frankly sound like shit, where a great hi fi would make no difference. Perhaps we think alike, I long for the mid 70's through late 80's, truly, in my opinion, the golden years of hi fi, sorry for the rant.

[@audibleeleganceinc]

@@sounddoctor5decades It's all good. I think if you look at several of my other videos or wander over to my blog on my website, I think you will find we have much in common. The values are different too. Some will drop nearly 3 digits on a single meal several times a week year round. They are happy with that and iPhones. It's a matter of choice.