Feeling guilty

Stereophile editor John Atkinson's 2005 think piece How To Revive High End Audio is a great piece and partly responsible for yesterday's post admitting I am an Audiophile. As John points out there have been many a failed attempt at programs and groups whose goal is gaining traction for high-end audio. I think there are two reasons these attempts have failed: the first is that I don't believe high end audio is in decline and the second is because they've been missing the mark. I started reading about the demise of high end audio in the 1990's. It's now 2013 and we're still here. Has the landscape changed? Oh goodness yes, everything from the loss of dealers to a complete turnaround of what high-end audio is and represents. I would put forth the idea that the desire for better music performance in our homes has never been greater. It just has different names. But the core subject here is how the attempts at spreading the word and promoting the high-end failed: and why these attempts will continue to fail if we don't address the core issues first. "Sir, we have met the enemy and it turns out, the enemy is us." We, as a group, fail. We, as a group don't believe in ourselves enough to tell the world of our pride. We're afraid to tell the world we spend money on our stereo systems, our record collections, our obsession with perfecting the art of home audio reproduction. Few among us are open to the outside world about what our passions are. We hide. We meet at exclusive conclaves where we're comfortable amongst fellow devotees, the outside world never entering into our sanctuaries. I want to start a dialog about this and what better group then my readers? I am an Audiophile. I spend money on my stereo system and my music library. I am proud to call myself an Audiophile and yes, I am obsessed and passionate about it. Yes.