What about how we consume music? I find it nearly impossible to go to an electronics store and find something reasonably priced that doesn't sound cheap. These are the places that most consumers get their music listening equipment. Great music in a good digital format will sound mediocre, at best, on inadequate stereo equipment. One of the good things about vinyl is that the distortion that creates all that "warmth" is very forgiving to less than stellar equipment.
Plus there is the fact that as music has become more ubiquitous we care less about quality over quantity. If I can hear a song I like playing faintly over the speaker system at the grocery store (hypothetical) and be satiated enough, why do I need a dedicated piece of equipment taking up space in my house that could be filled with other stuff. Not to mention that as we get older we no longer have the time to sit sit back and actually enjoy music. We sit in our cars, on mass transit and subject ourselves to inferior sound quality. . . Plus how are beats headphones being sold off like they are some entry level gift to sound quality. . ? For their price especially they are terrible (my brief opinion).
