The end of the road for Stereo

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   The end of the road for Stereo
Yes, there is a resurgence of interest in LPs, but not in order to play them. The younger generations buy them for their collections, which also include superhero comics, books and vids.

Where they do buy a record player, it is a record player, not anything to do with hi-fi. As for listening to these LPs, it's all done on their smartphones. No need for any go-between equipment to "improve" the sound - just get a good but cheaply priced headphone and plug it in the smartphone.

If you don't believe me, you haven't had any youths sat in your dining room recently, having a "music session"  like I have. Either it's music like this, or it's online gaming.

Here, I said, let's nip into my office and you can hear that record in all its glory. And yes they do listen for a while, and then go back to their smartphones - their comfort zone.

Unlike some of their elders, stereo doesn't compute in their brains. They don't understand the "3D illusion" even if you try to explain it. Neither do they understand the emotional communication of a soulful audio system - the way the lyrics of a well intentioned song connect.

Stereo has therefore become a pastime of the older man. Few women are interested and I think that has always been the case (but don't ask me why). So now it's "women and children first" leaving the old stereo soldiers to battle on.

And that's exactly what I intend to do all the way to the end of the road.

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Graham Slee Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Retired Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Location: South Yorkshire Status: Offline Points: 16314	Post Options Post Reply Quote Graham Slee Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: The end of the road for Stereo Posted: 08 Mar 2022 at 2:57pm
	The end of the road for Stereo Yes, there is a resurgence of interest in LPs, but not in order to play them. The younger generations buy them for their collections, which also include superhero comics, books and vids. Where they do buy a record player, it is a record player, not anything to do with hi-fi. As for listening to these LPs, it's all done on their smartphones. No need for any go-between equipment to "improve" the sound - just get a good but cheaply priced headphone and plug it in the smartphone. If you don't believe me, you haven't had any youths sat in your dining room recently, having a "music session" like I have. Either it's music like this, or it's online gaming. Here, I said, let's nip into my office and you can hear that record in all its glory. And yes they do listen for a while, and then go back to their smartphones - their comfort zone. Unlike some of their elders, stereo doesn't compute in their brains. They don't understand the "3D illusion" even if you try to explain it. Neither do they understand the emotional communication of a soulful audio system - the way the lyrics of a well intentioned song connect. Stereo has therefore become a pastime of the older man. Few women are interested and I think that has always been the case (but don't ask me why). So now it's "women and children first" leaving the old stereo soldiers to battle on. And that's exactly what I intend to do all the way to the end of the road.
	That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps

CageyH Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 30 Apr 2012 Location: Toulouse, Franc Status: Offline Points: 1751	Post Options Post Reply Quote CageyH Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 Mar 2022 at 5:32pm
	That is the startling reality of the “youf” of today. Then at the opposite end of the scale you have the “pure” audiophile, who uses music to listen to his equipment. Every time I have been in a HiFi dealers recently, it has had an “elder” generation of clientele. To be fair, they are only really the ones with any disposable income. And to make it worse, many of the good designers are no longer spring chickens. Who is going to pick up the torch afterwards, and carry on designing HiFi, or will we be forced to select between different items of ChiFi? It has been a while since I was in a Richer Sounds, where a lot of people start their HiFi journey. Has anybody been to one recently, and if so, what is there product range and customer base like these days? Edited by CageyH - 08 Mar 2022 at 5:35pm
	Kevin European loan coordinator, based near Toulouse, France. Funkified SL1200 Mk.II, BB3, Firebottle Kin , ADI-2 DAC FS, Modulus 686, PD-S703, Solo UL, Triangle Antal EZ

lfc jon Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jan 2018 Location: Devon Status: Offline Points: 4353	Post Options Post Reply Quote lfc jon Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 Mar 2022 at 6:58pm
	The youth of today are not interested in sound quality, they have their phones and if they have friends around they will connect it up to a Bluetooth speaker of questionable quality and sound. I once asked a young person about a good portable music player and they said that's what your phone is for, why do you wont a personal stereo, My answer to that was for sound quality and the reply was "it sounds OK on my phone". Today children are brought on tech even before they go to school or even pre-school so it seems they don't know any better. A relative of mine son know how to use a phone at around one years old it may have been earlier he would watch youtube cartoons and know how to navigate the site to find what he wonted. Kevin Richer Sounds have a wide range of HiFi, budget to lower high end stuff now a days as for their customer base I can't comment but what I will say is the last time I was in there I did see some young person but they were looking at Bluetooth speakers.
	Reflex M, Solo (both with PSU-1) CuSat50, Lautus, Spatia & Spatia links cables. Ortofon Bronze.

lfc jon Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jan 2018 Location: Devon Status: Offline Points: 4353	Post Options Post Reply Quote lfc jon Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 Mar 2022 at 7:34pm
	With all these Bluetooth speakers (not pure stereo) are we in danger of going full circle and going back to mono?. To me it looking like we could be. There must be some young people out there that are interested in a good stereo sound.
	Reflex M, Solo (both with PSU-1) CuSat50, Lautus, Spatia & Spatia links cables. Ortofon Bronze.

CageyH Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 30 Apr 2012 Location: Toulouse, Franc Status: Offline Points: 1751	Post Options Post Reply Quote CageyH Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 Mar 2022 at 8:01pm
	I have a Bluetooth speaker. I use it for background music when we are entertaining. It is small, has a reasonable sound and goes quite loud. It is not HiFi, but for what it is, it does a great job.
	Kevin European loan coordinator, based near Toulouse, France. Funkified SL1200 Mk.II, BB3, Firebottle Kin , ADI-2 DAC FS, Modulus 686, PD-S703, Solo UL, Triangle Antal EZ

TheScorpionsTale Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 02 Jan 2021 Location: Oxfordshire, UK Status: Offline Points: 380	Post Options Post Reply Quote TheScorpionsTale Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 Mar 2022 at 9:21pm
	Me too, though I use it mainly to beef up the sound from the computer when playing music videos. For music listening I use the hi-fi. But then I'm one of the old fogeys (sorry, older men) that Graham writes about.
	Graham SL1200 II with SME M2-9R and various carts / Revelation M with PSU-1 / Cyrus amp, CD and streamer / Kralk Audio BC30-3 Floorstanders / Bitzie and Lautus USB

discrete badger Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 14 Jul 2009 Status: Offline Points: 482	Post Options Post Reply Quote discrete badger Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 Mar 2022 at 9:43pm
	Modern attention spans are not about appreciating things in depth, but about constantly flicking between multiple stimuli in search of the next short-lived dopamine hit. And partly this is an age thing. When I was that age, I was a channel-surfer. However, everywhere I look, people are listening to their smartphones on stereo earbuds, wired occasionally but mostly Bluetooth. My Galaxy S9 has stereo speakers. The 3D effect is pretty good in the nearfield. So I don't think stereo is going anywhere, including stereo speakers and headphones/earbuds. But I think the traditional hi-fi system as the "power" for those speakers/headphones is becoming history, partly because the alternatives are now more than good enough for the mass market. And in some cases even the "music obsessive" and "audiophiles" too. For instance I have all-in-one electronics for two of my three speaker systems, by choice.

The end of the road for Stereo

Cadman Enterprises Limited
7 Kirkstall Close
South Anston
Sheffield S25 5BA
England

+44 (0) 1909 568739
+44 (0) 7947 107188

john at gspaudio.co.uk

The end of the road for Stereo

Cadman Enterprises Limited7 Kirkstall CloseSouth AnstonSheffield S25 5BAEngland

+44 (0) 1909 568739+44 (0) 7947 107188

john at gspaudio.co.uk

Cadman Enterprises Limited
7 Kirkstall Close
South Anston
Sheffield S25 5BA
England

+44 (0) 1909 568739
+44 (0) 7947 107188