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Where he swung and missed, to me:
"I think the future is in mid-fi and in earning the support of our communities."
Sorry, but this is an insidious bit of wrongness. It's Hi Fi. The minute we stratify like that, the hobby loses.
I'd go with, the future is in making Hi Fi obtainable by the middle class. He has a great opportunity to curate a high quality audio world for his customers, don't talk it down!
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"The gap between high-end prices and entry level is absolutely enormous. The aspirational became the impossible." That ultimately might not benefit the industry because it pushes some people away, so to Brewer it makes little sense.
"This hobby and industry is obviously in an overall decline from where it was..."
I have a hunch that the start of this 'decline' is exactly timed to whenever the audiophile media coined the bullshit term "high end."
"High end" is simply a self congratulatory term that is a form of social signaling. Don't fall for it.
Kill that term, or make it apply to all Hi Fi.
What percentage of the citizenry is into good audio?
One percent? Two?
Just being into audio should make one feel "apart" enough from the hoi polloi without the hobby self segregating itself.
He's right, Hi Fi is aspirational. Don't confuse high prices with Hi Fi virtue.
End of rant. I would shop at this guy's shop!