What's the score with hifi, did it used to be an aspirational purchase and now its just some consumer commodity that can as well be provided by your pc or playstation 3?
Is it the fact that digtial music systems have removed the physical connection with the music medium, and that these days kids aren't interested in how they listen, regarding quality, just that they have access to the music.
is it the fault of the manufacturers and retailers who only advertise in the hifi press and do no out of market publicity work to rpomote the enjoyment of listening to music to a wider audience.
or is it the fact that in this day and age most people simply wouldn't know good sound quality, or indeed even be interested in it as something worth chasing even if it bit them on the arse.
The current retail market and the hifi press is largely predicated on the supply or mains product, bullshit cables and physical isolation system- racks and so forth. This months HIFI+ has the first 46 pages devoted to cables, maisn and supports. I mean seriously, WTF has that got to do with enjoying music. The reviewer even has the balls to claims the £3k PS ausio mains regeneration unit works best witt he £400 upgrade mains lead..
HELLO, IT'S A FUCKING MAINS REGENERATOR, IT SHOULD WORK OFF WET STRING PLUGGED INTO THE WALL.
I think it's all of the above, add in a recession, the rise of the internet, over supply and online price reductions and you have a market in decline where very few buy new and everyone wants to pay less.