Phil. My pet peeve today is Phil.
Phil just came to “borrow” (I’ll never get it back) my Schiit phono preamp. And during his stay, he listened to some music and then—by virtue of his amazing knowledge of manufacturing–Phil explained what each component and speaker actually cost to produce. My Pass Labs power amp for example: “A couple hundred dollars in parts and a few hours of labor”. F*&**g Phil.
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Glad you have some younger people that are interested.
On this we agree.
I’d like to think most in this hobby do, but unfortunately the trend is declining. A big piece of it could be less disposable income for later generations. I do get excited when introducing younger listeners to the hobby.
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Maybe this is just an older person’s hobby. Maybe we just have to wait for the young to get older.
I don’t even know Phil, but I already dislike him.
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Applies to most commodities. I purchase what pleases me, and discoun the Phil’s of the world. There was a time when some one placed a value of the contents human body, and I believe it was less than a buck!
You’ll love this: Phil worships at the alter of Amir The Great.
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Waiting is not a predictor of any future trends. The fact is there are many things to with that thing call leisure time.
Dislike turning to anger…
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I don’t think the hobby is declining do to the unavailability of affordable hi fi gear. The affordable gear is out there, but unfortunately the middle class is being squeezed do to inflation, and a decline in higher paying jobs. After paying for food, gas, rent, medical expenses, there’s no budget left for stereo gear. When I was growing up most teenagers had a decent receiver, speakers and a turntable, and stereo shops were plentiful.
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I would have to agree. Eversolo, Matrix, Topping and other CHIFI are making good things cheap and easily accessible. Spotify and smartphones are the competition. But inflation is putting a big dent into many. I would hate to be a 25 year old starting out again in this mess. Interest rates, no homes for sale, everything expensive. Funny land seems to have stayed the same (in CT around me) but new construction is so dam expensive, nobody building.
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Things were like this when I WAS 25. Smartphones, streaming, etc. dominate the youth’s audio world. Perhaps when they age they’ll move into better audio, or move away from audio altogether as has happened in previous generations.
Or perhaps some military application will eventually generate a new medium that is even better sounding and even cheaper.
The middle class has been squeezed for the past forty years. All we are seeing now is the latest squeeze.
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So true. The gap is getting bigger and bigger. But the taxes the rich pay are less and less … go figure.
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But hey…fast food prices are falling for the masses…
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I am very sad to say, I am an American cliche:
“I’m glad I gots mine!”
If I am the last one interested in this sorta stuff, no problem. I accept the joy.
I do wish we had stepper discs though. Step on in your location, step off in another. It would be fun to visit your setups and see what you have built. In my small circle, every one I know has a system I could happily live with.
Except for that one guy.
Phil.
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Equipment first is cart before the horse.
Get the kids interested in music (worth listening to).
Start there.
If they play it, they will come.
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Two kinds of people who ‘contribute’ to threads on audio forums :-
- who criticize a tweak without actually trying it.
- who post frivolous comments that has nothing to do with the topic being discussed, e.g. happy cake day. Somethings half the thread can be rubbish comments.
This thread is one of the better ones with pretty much every post being on point.
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To put it in context, that graph compares effective tax rates and not dollars.
It has a lot to do with the source of income for each group (passive, active, residual…).I think that Trump was the president that impacted high net worth the hardest with his $10K cap on SALT taxes which were one of the favorites of property owners.
(for context, I am a partner at a CPA firm. I don’t do taxes but i am very familiar with them)
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