HIFI Worry

Hi,

Is the Hifi industry in turmoil?

The recent hifi show had less companies on show and, it seemed, less people in attendance. Over the last few years more companies are not bothering with the big shows.

Hifi magazine sales are down on what they were years ago.

Some hifi shops & businesses have suffered or are suffering.

The credit crunch has changed some peoples buying habits. People may be looking for better deals or buying more 2nd hand. Or simply not buying. Value of some items are not as strong as before.

To People in the trade, how is business? What's selling and what isn't? Do you think you will survive the next year or so? Will you except haggling?

To hifi buyers, will you be buying as normal or hanging fire? Will you be haggling for better deals? Or will you go for 2nd hand stuff? Will you look abroad for better deals?

Looking around, there seems to be alot of ex-dem stuff/2nd hand stuff up for sale, some of it not shifting. Magazines are full of new products. It make you wonder how many they sell?

What do people think?

SCIDB

 

These days HIFI is very much a luxery and luxery items are always the first to go in times like this. I just hope those russians keep making those smit fraud worms otherwise I will out of a job too .

I went into Richersounds the other day and was shocked how empty the place was, but that might be do the with the fact they are more interested in pixels than DACs these days.

 

Better than ever

 

Hi Simon,

Good to hear it. How many speakers have you now sold? How many do you expect to sell over the next 12 months?


SCIDB

 

Hi Dean,

The Hi-Fi show was the product launch so I really can't say how many I expect to sell. Time will tell!

In general, sales seem to be increasing slowly. But having said that, summer is usually a slow period so it is not too surprising now coming towards the end of the year (wow 2009 soon!).

I don't think peoples buying habits for hi-fi have changed much so far. People who had money still have money. Those who didn't have lots of money found some if it was important to them, and that also hasn't changed much yet.

 

mmmm.... love the smell of spam in the morning. Can we lose this Joker? He's knackering some interesting threads.

 

"Audio equipment fan" eh, Jack Wallst?

And I thought fans only blew cold air...

 

I've removed some of his posts containing adverts.

Jack Wallst, if you carry on like this, you will be banned.

 

Hi Simon,

There are plenty people with money but they may not be spending on hifi. One high end dealer (Midland Audio Exchange) seems to feeling the pinch with sales of new equipment. He has commented about people are showing more interest in 2nd stuff.

I understand Rochester HiFi have ceased trading as a hifi shop and just doing distrubution.

Things are happening in the hifi world.

SCIDB

 

I have to wonder if this is due to the current financial crisis or if it would happen anyway. Hi-fi is a shrinking market, regardless of the climate. Anyway I can only speak for myself.

 

I did the same thing, there is/was no money in it, I ended up just doing 2 UK speaker brands Revolver & Kudos, 1 from Sweden. XTZ

2 Electronics- Sonneteer & AstinTrew

and Acoustic Revive accessories from Japan.


I then had to set up Huygens Audio.

I tend to agree with Simon in the the current climate isn't to blame 100% it don't help, but it is a small market that is getting smaller and smaller, to survive as Huygens we need to make audiophile audio PCs.

 

As an opportunistic consumer, I'd definitely be looking to take any and all advantage of the economic climate. Particularly second hand I guess, but also in-store depending on the store.

 

Have rarely bought hifi from new, as much prefer to make a healthy saving a few months or years later with a buy on the Used market, also, with many friends dabbling in the like, have no shortage of gear to pass around, named or homebrew, and with copious amounts of 'used gear' at ever lowering prices on offer, why look elsewhere, as i never listen to the 'majority' of crap written in the back hander hifi press and don't care to be swayed by the mostly percentage led dealerships and black art blatherings of the company players.... i couldn't care less

 

Free-cycle is the way to go peeps.

 

I'm not earning any less, than i did pre-recession, so why should i spend any less, i was within my budget then, i'm within my budget now.

recessions don't start with the consumer they start wiht the finance market, that affects business and that puts us out of jobs. thats the real recession. it's finance lead and alwasy has been.

People need exactly the same amount of stuff as they ever did.

 

Either because the fear of earning less in the future leads you to spend less or because the fact that other people are spending less means you need to spend less to obtain the same

Needs don't change, completely agree with that; but no-one needs hifi equipment, they want it.

 

You see that's the thing, people put varying importance on it. I would guess you don't consider it all that important in your life. Some people who have hardly any money, own top notch systems simply because it is very important to them to have good sounding music in their life.

Certainly for me, I consider good music and hi-fi a near-necessity in my life. I need music. Others may say they need a car. I know which I'd choose.

 

Not as important as food or shelter, that's for sure

 

I build almost all my own stuff so the focus shifts to component level like drivers, transformers and the bits that make up kit. I guess its all affected but DIY has always been a much more attractive proposition for me.

Hifi isn't going to disappear overnight but hopefully shake ups like this will lead to more realistic pricing on the highend.

 

On the contrary, it is the mid-range kit made in sweatshops in china by the thousands that has unrealistic pricing, and it may not be sustained forever. When you buy a high-end bit of kit from a cottage industry business you are paying the more realistic cost of production IMO.

Not that I like to pay lots for stuff, no one does, but I also don't like the idea of outsourcing all work to another country and barely paying people enough to buy food and shelter.