Swimming against some tides, I’m happy about and hopeful for hifi’s future.
Hell, my own hifi history dates back to the 1960s and I’ve been hearing about hifi’s demise for decades. Seems to me the navel gazing, especially as our navels get increasingly difficult to see over self-satisfied bellies, is inherently negative which makes perfect sense as I me mine is a lonely hollow place and the more we think we know because age for some implies achieved wisdom, which works well for wines and cheese but not so much for some people, that implication falls flat when it comes to—change.
Old men opining about how to get young folk excited about hifi reminds me of a bird trying to pull a worm out of a hole.
Headphones! Yea! We need more headphone displays at hifi shows to lure those young bucks into the fold! And more affordable stuff, too!
Seeing as it costs thousands of dollars to exhibit at a hifi show, high four and five figures on up to six, I find this sentiment which is mostly espoused by people who have no business in the business of hifi—e.g. reviewers—quaint.
I was one of a number of people who took part in a brief video interview during CAF 2025 put together by Ø Audio and one of the questions asked was, “How can we get more people interested in hifi?” And I responded by having more people listen to music through one. You know, hear it and I would say something similar about visual art—you have to see it. Hardly an original thought and I understand a number of other interviewees answered along similar lines but the key is not the hifi, it’s the music.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, music is not an accessory and I don’t have to argue that fact because the history of humankind supports this notion with overwhelming evidence (see history). So people will continue to listen to music through some kind of device and some of those people will want more than what a smartphone or soundbar have to offer. And these people need a place to go to hear hifi whether at a friends, relatives, neighbor, a store, or a hifi show.
It seems to me most of the lamenting over the ‘demise of hifi’ is simply the inability to accept change and the fact that not everyone needs to buy what you sell or spend over a certain amount to be considered serious. Perhaps what’s actually in decline is the notion that a handful of (self)important people dictate taste (hallelujah).
Here’s another fun fact—you cannot connect to things outside yourself if you believe yourself to be the sole arbiter of taste.
CAF 2025 was a carnival of delights filled with passionate people on every side of hifi and I had a blast amidst that celebration. The vibe, the gear, the systems, and rooms at CAF 2025 had something for everyone and for those who listen, observe, and have the capacity to enjoy, it had a helluva lot more on offer.
Congratulations to Gary Gill, the entire CAF staff, and every single exhibitor for putting on a show of shows. No matter how you attach to the life affirming hobby of hifi, whose special purpose is the celebration of and connection with music, the future is bright.