We recently added Pro-Ject turntables to our line up to meet a growing demand in the resurgence of vinyl. While most “experts” agree that this is still a niche market, what I love about this new trend is that it’s mostly college and high school age people that are buying records again. Not long ago, the industry seemed to suggest that high end audio was all but doomed. CD sales have plummeted to the rise of downloadable music, multi-channel music formats were being introduced and traditional 2 channel (that’s “stereo” to you and me) audio fidelity stores were becoming the stuff that ghost towns are made of.
Fortunately, the young and hip that walk amongst us are always looking for a way to make something retro cool again as is the case with albums and turntables. More importantly, I think, is that this generation of listeners is now discovering high end audio the way that us old folks did. Though I still love digital music and all that it brings to the table, there is an undeniable warmth and openness in a vinyl groove that, so far, digital music is unable to achieve. Moreover, listening to an album is an engaging process. Audiophile quality aside, some of the rise in popularity is attributed to the whole process it takes to listen to an album. It is once again cool to sit with the album sleeve and look at the pictures, lyrics, and liner notes while listening to the record. As this younger generation spends time discovering both the audiophile qualities of the turntable and the emotional involvement of the process, 2 channel music may once again rise up in popularity. Who knows what’s next? Can you say “tube amps” boys and girls?
-Clay Hankins is the CEO of The Audio Guy, LLC located in the
Dallas and Ft. Worth, TX metro and serving the Dallas Home Theater, Media Rooms and
surrounding
DFW area markets.
Posted
07-15-2010 1:20 PM
by
admin