pretty sure it’s the demand I knoe more people that have upgraded their car speakers than people who have headphone amps
Also with car monoblocks or like 4 or 5 channels they don’t need to be held to the same quality standard. They typically aren’t made to sound high quality, just push power and volume. There really is no high fidelity car stereo setup imo. Headphones and high end speakers are much more sensitive to amp quality rather then most car speakers or subs. A car is just not the ideal place for audio lol
Boiling it down to the essence;
When you go back to discuss the evolution of a hobby you have to account for the general social economics and the societal shifts of music. In the end all the crap we buy is for one thing and one thing only. To listen to our music.
The other aspect (ever present) is technology, and that will always have an impact, or actually sometimes drive public opinion.
Comparatively high end speakers of the 70s and 80s were light years ahead of headphones. Whereas I think that today it’s equal if not actually edging ahead in the headphone world.
Then again sometimes an artist lie The White Stripes comes along with their lo-fi recording philosophy and mocks in a way manages to mock an entire industry.
In the end we’re far closer today to high end audiophile sound at blue collar prices. People will always want to spend 20k on cables and 80k on speakers simply to show the little people that they can and you can’t. I’m happy to get 95% of the way there on 5% of their budget.
yep especially with the chif if boom recently in the IEM space and MAssdrop’s existence making harder to justify athe value proposition of a toin of more expensive options
Mon I’ll agree to a point. I’ve built and seen sound quality completion vehicles that used full focal systems custom installed to delivery sound stage and quality.
Car audio isn’t a personal as headphones, but I’ve heard many systems that sounds as good as some really nice home speaker systems. The car audio, while was still high end and semi pricy , was still WAY less expensive.
The crazy part is there are only so many ways to skin a cat, or build an amp really. Too the original point is kind of baffling that the market hasn’t moved along that fast overall compared to more complicated tech like , mobile phones, tablet and PC…
I guess those category are more main stream. #followthemoney
I will say that I have heard very nice car audio systems, but if you send the same price on a proper home system it’s a better experience imo (talking about a quality oriented system not bass spl on the car side)
@db_Cooper was getting warmer toward explaining the consumer side of @RiceGuru’s initial point: the blue collar prices have a lot to do with it. Most economic research shows that since
~1980, wages stagnated, costs of just about everything (housing, healthcare, food, education, etc.) went up a lot. Coming-of-age “Boomerphiles” had lower housing costs as a proportion of income (~15-20% in early '80’s, ~33-50% now for 18-40 age bracket). These changes mean smaller spaces for the same money, and thus the double-whammy of needing space-saving audio gear AND trying to maximize performance/$ ratio. Generally speaking, dollar-for-dollar headphones tend to outperform speakers, and you don’t have to pay for room space specifically for them. Plus, when what you can afford is a small apartment, headphones mean your neighbors don’t have to hear you and you don’t have to hear them.
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My wife thinks that I should be able to get a great speaker for $200 I chuckled at her (inside of course) because my budget is $1000 someones rolling on the floor laughing at my budget. Seriously looking at the Tekton Lore. 
I’ll share some details about it here if I pull the trigger.
hahahah totally can relate -glances over at his RB42’s…
Nice speakers, looking forward to your impressions lol
I know it’s crazy to think about it. Speakers were invented in 1887 and a “good” speaker cost more than a PC that is nearly 100 years newer (as far as products go) has more components, more time in research and probably more time in machining and construction.
Oh, the world we live in as audio enthusiast…lol smh
We live in a society, audio enthusiasts rise up lol
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there are speaker cables more expensive than my PC
There are speaker cables more expensive then my house lol (well I think so lol, at least more then my car)
I’m in the wrong business.
Anyone want to buy some premium copper wire with a premium Au coating, covered in premium transparent PVC coating. Guaranteed to make your really good headphones, sound really good…lol
We finance in house…lmbo
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just be glad your not into watches certain watches are expensive just out of pure company history imagine AKg k240’s to be 3x the price cause akg is a legendary company
Lol yeah, several watch brands come to mind. I hope it stays that way so the watch my dad gave to me hold it’s value lol
Funny you say that. I’ve had a Tag Heuer that I bought in 85. I married my wife in 89. I can still afford my wife, the watch not so much if I had to go buy it today. I don’t have the speakers I had in the late 80s and I paid around the same for both. So at least I made one smart purchase back then.
Theres just not enough competition in the audio world like there is in computer tech. Also, audio is so subjective that those companies can charge thousands of dollars for outdated technology while computer parts like graphics cards are directly comparable with an immediate improvement in fps.