Possibly... there is no debate about the fact that we as a group are the odd balls... "normal" people really don't care, and as for this being the true golden age, I suppose that depends on how you define it. Certainly many manufacturers are producing their very best products of all times. There are really well designed and built turntables, digital sounds better than it ever has, electronics have continued to evolve and today we have uber simple and relatively high quality units from people like Peachtree Audio and of course crazy high end gear that is truly fantastic... and speakers? JBL has never made better speakers than they are selling right now, Revel and B+W have great speakers, and a few dozen other companies are producing speakers that exceed every parameter of a decade or two ago... if you are into high sensitivity systems there are even a few companies that cater to that market.
I think what has changed is the popular focus... during the '60s and well into the '70s home HiFi was growing in popularity and most people with any amount of disposable income felt compelled to buy into it... since then home computing and more recently computer based and internet based gaming has replaced it along with numerous other distractions.
Today most people are happy with a mp3 player based boom box and a decent car stereo... more than that feels like an intrusion to them... too bad for them, but it has freed up lots of fine vintage audio gear that has been made available to those of us interested in it at a really affordable price. If that wasn't the case, just as vintage muscle cars are going for a fortune, our beloved vintage JBL monitors would cost tens of thousands of dollars.
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