I think part of the equation is "kids these days".

Kids are distracted with other things, many could care less about cars, or good audio in general. Kids are happy with their ear buds or bluetooth speakers. And kids don't really care about cars or driving as much because their friends are at their fingertips 24/7. Kids used to have to get in their car to drive and see what their friends were up to. Your car was important, you spent a lot of time in it, used it to meet new friends and the car itself was entertainment and something to spend time on.

Kids don't just get into a car with friends and drive around all night and listen to music.

 

Not all of them though! My oldest son, 19, still goes out for drives after work and just listens to his stereo! And he and a couple of his friends still go "cruisin'" every now and then. But yes, its not the norm any more, sadly. I can still remember like it was yesterday, cruisin' with the stereo blaring, 2mph in traffic, through town with a thousand other teens doing the same thing! Ahhh, the 80's were awesome!!!

 

I agree with a big part of it being that most cars come with much better stereo systems (or at least much louder ) stock now that are good enough for the average consumer.

 

Personally, I think its because of how much is integrated into the head units, making them much less appealing to replace with an aftermarket unit. Also, sound quality has gotten louder, and I guess better, considering the vehicles up to the late 80's (and even some 90's trucks I guess) could still come standard with AM-only radios and one speaker in the middle of the dash!

 

I feel a lot of what attributes to it as how difficult it has become to add/replace things. Stereos come with AC and other functions integrated, ANC, among other things. Doing an aftermarket stereo replacement has just become so much more costlier and complicated than it used to be. Not to mention the commodities like built in AA/Carplay support, and half decent audio systems from the factory would deter someone from wanting to tinker with it. Increased costs across the board certainly don't help either haha.

E: I feel like the main factor with age is just the social/economic climate outside of those who only view cars as a means of transportation. I'm 26 and have been into audio since High School, but I can't count how many times I would get looked at for playing my music somewhat turned up (not full tilt). People my age and younger look at me like a nuisance when I did that. Not to mention I think twice before buying any gear, just because of the cost and how much I'm making at the moment. Also people my age who are into cars are mainly into it for the "clout." If they have any audio system, it's usually bottom of the barrel stuff like Skar and Taramps I usually see at meets/shows. They want something that just is loud like their cars and turns people's heads at meets lol.

I'm pretty much the only guy in my car friend circle with a pretty decent sound setup, no one else really cares that much for it and cringe when they see prices for pretty good equipment. By default, that makes me the "go-to" guy when someone needs help installing or tuning something. It sucks, but I do it for me, y'know? I love audio and music, and this is such a fun hobby for me

 

I think the generational issue is the main one. My 24 year old son leased a new civic in april. Knew the sound system sucked but had no interest in spending money on it. He just decided to go back to school and gave up the lease. I asked if he would miss his car. No he would not, it was just transportation.
Smartphones will be the downfall of civilization.
Machine7 hit the nail on the head.

 

It’s the kids first and foremost that has killed the future prospects of the industry - it’s uncool to draw attention to yourself by disturbing others with loud music. Thus, gone are the days of investing in car audio from a corp standpoint. For the rest of us it’s everything else you mentioned. We get to watch our hobby fizzle out and evaporate.

Given that, I love my one plus earbuds that are designed by Dynaudio. Use em like once a week.

Smh car audio, you will be missed…

 

There's probably 3 sides to the story.
OEM integration became an issue that took the aftermarket a while to adapt. When OEM's saw billions being spent in the aftermarket they decided to capture those profits. Brands started shifting resources to OEM projects when aftermarket sales slowed. Customers then saw McIntosh, JBL, B&O offered right from the dealer and financed in. This captured most of the mid market.

Then the lower end side of the market was either priced out by the processing needed or didn't care because music was becoming background noise heard through earbuds while doing something else. The days of every 17 year old showing up for a system were gone.

That left the high end market which the OEM integration and partnerships reduced it's size. Some just didn't want the hassle in their nice leased vehicle.
So the entire industry has consolidated and is much smaller. It wasnt sustainable for many deck and 4 / remote start shops. It wasn't the exciting industry that attracted new installers. Competitions dried up and even most of the hardcore enthusiasts moved on to other hobbies. I spent more in race fuel and tires than I ever spent in car audio.

It seems like things have stabilized now. The DIY side covers most of serious enthusiasts, anyone has access to equipment and following the established standards gets good results. There's some very capable shops to take things up a notch when needed.

 

Kids also have less disposable income due to the average cost of cars, housing and education being far greater.

 

the kids around us or their parents are putting money into cars, they just dont do car audio. At my sons highschool, they have a whole row of kids that have modified cars. I am talking engine swaps, etc. Some of the cars have a pretty good amount of money in them. Hes got kids driving 40 and 50 k pickups to school. They will put money into lift kits, wheels and tires but not into car audio.

To your point, at work we have seen a shift in kids graduating college and coming into the workforce. Some of them dont care about cars at all. They will look for housing near work, move into these mixed use communities and ride share/uber. These are the people that will never in their life upgrade a car stereo

 

My company`s car which is 10 years old, middle to bottom end model and bottom end equipped has front sound stage, a good one, with the stock speakers... 2-way.

 

Shady shops did their part too. Selling crap gear to people claiming its great...or just pushing whatever had the highest profit margin no matter what the customer was looking for in a stereo

 

It all comes down to expense, IMO. Cars are (much) more expensive, so people are less likely to want to modify them. Cars also tend to have heavily integrated stereos, so adding equipment is harder, requires extra hardware, and is therefore more expensive. Labor is more expensive. Parts are more expensive. Everything has become significantly more expensive since the hay day of car audio, and workers aren't making that much more money.

 

Younger people have a million other ways to spend their money...phones, watches that connect to phones, ear buds that connect to phones, subscriptions for the 4,000 apps on their phones, Tinder hook ups they swiped on their phones, "experiences" (I call it going on a trip) they book on their phones, gym memberships so they can film themselves working out on their phone...

Like most everyone said, tying into, and making an OEM system better on late model cars is at least a 4-figure endeavor...likely multiples. In high school, I had an aftermarket headunit and 4 speakers installed for $500. A lot of OEM integration interfaces cost more than that uninstalled. You have to be pretty dedicated to improving sound quality to prioritize spending that much money at a shop over some of the other options.

 

i agree with much of what has already been said. i think the big brick and motar stores (ie. Best Buy) are hurting the local shops with their bulk purchasing power which equates to lower out the door prices. brick and motar stores often offer longer warranties which is attractive to most.

one of the many benefits of local car audio shops is/was custom work. nowadays "most" people either don't want custom, or not willing to pay for custom. then of course many local shops nowadays rarely offer custom work. at least they don't anywhere near my area.

i've noticed over the years that many local shops do not have a sound room (with display board) where the customer can see and hear a demo.

my $0.02

 

one thing I have noticed is local shops dont do anything and I mean nothing to promote the hobby. One of the shops close to me used to do open nights. They would open the shop late, run specials on product and bring in a bunch of demo cars. Some of the cars are their installations, others were manufacture cars. The shop used to be packed. They quit and havent dont it in years. Another shop used to do something similar but would allow you to book time in the install bay and work with an installer to put in equipment. It was huge, they stopped. We had several that used to put on car shows during the summer, stopped. I cant tell you the last time a shop locally put on a SPL or SQ competition, like years. Locally, all our shops are no longer open on Saturday. That would be an easy way to do something to promote a hobby.

One of the first things I would do is have a set of cars with very good factory integration and upgraded stereos. Let customers sit and actually hear the difference that for example, DSP makes. A lot of people walk around and think my factory radio is very good. It is but they also dont have any reference to what better is.

 

one thing I have noticed is local shops dont do anything and I mean nothing to promote the hobby. One of the shops close to me used to do open nights. They would open the shop late, run specials on product and bring in a bunch of demo cars. Some of the cars are their installations, others were manufacture cars. The shop used to be packed. They quit and havent dont it in years. Another shop used to do something similar but would allow you to book time in the install bay and work with an installer to put in equipment. It was huge, they stopped. We had several that used to put on car shows during the summer, stopped. I cant tell you the last time a shop locally put on a SPL or SQ competition, like years. Locally, all our shops are no longer open on Saturday. That would be an easy way to do something to promote a hobby.

The good shops back in the day had space for the regulars to hang out...I spent a lot of free time at Mr Wu's. The shop I go to now does really good work but they don't even have a waiting area 😂

 

I think we got the major issues nailed down pretty good.

But, I'm not ready to blame "only" the younger generation, I'm thinking its more of a cultural shift.

Music is not as important to the average person, the way it was previously. Sadly, I think music as a whole, has run it's course, nothing much new, nothing much exciting, sure the Stones, Eagles and the Who, keep touring, but who cares?

The average person nowadays has much more entertainment options than they did 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago, the entire human culture has changed...

 

That is true, one of my favorite things to do is come home, put on my hi end Sennheiser headphones and listen to a well mastered recording. Some are breathtaking. In the car it is kind of more of the same but I feel a more visceral experience with the bass and dynamic effect of volume and driving at the same time....now that is entertainment. But, I am 65yo and still loving music, new stuff even. I have gotten some good leads on here and have been digging Patricia Barber.

 

All of the above and Amazon

 

I recently came across a discussion online where the poster was questioning why car audio shops have all but disappeared.

Many cited the improvement in factory audio quality. This is obviously true be it integrated subs, applied factory EQ or simply limiting low frequency output to prevent blown woofers.

Others cited difficulty in integrating aftermarket equipment. Also a major issue for the average consumer due to increased cost and the average “old school” installer who dint deal in complexity.

But I had some more thoughts:

Podcasts don’t necessitate high quality audio.

Cell phone signal quality coupled with unlimited minutes.

Smart phones eliminate need for stereo with GPS.

Chipped keys and integrated factory remote start mean less installs of alarms/remote starts and thus less upselling of stereo equipment.

Low/compressed streaming bitrates meant audio quality went to **** for awhile but people were thrilled just to have options in material even if it meant less than CD quality. Less dynamics meant less to chase in audio reproduction.

Vehicle interiors are quieter don’t need music to drown out wind and road noise.

More deadening/panel tightness in the average car meant less disappointment in factory radio.

Difficulty in swapping equipment when more systems go through the factory head unit (hvac, backup camera, even glovebox release).

Vehicle interior cosmetics and shapes equating to aftermarket HU messing with esthetics or just a non fit.

The cost of labor.

The cost of the average car buy in, cost to maintain and possibly more leasing.

The razor thin margins when competing with online and overseas pricing.

The rise of YouTube and DIY tutorials.

The rise of education and knowledge about what materials are needed to “do it right” and the greater costs therein (deadening, cables, integration devices, etc).

The average enthusiast wants it done right and as shops dry up custom installers who can actually do the work competently become harder to come by equating to even less interest in the effort to pursue the cause.

That’s another issue- getting burned by shady, unskilled or incapable shops.

Unless you’re really into audio and given all of the above factors, perhaps most just suffice with the ease of home theater equipment.

So like any murder mystery with many potential suspects maybe Netflix is the proverbial butler! HT killed movie houses, why not car audio too?

This is so spot on but the quality of stereos and speakers now is prob a big culprit. My ford ranger base has a better system then my aftermarket system. Could be bc I got mid grade equipment but nowadays I don’t even want to mess with anything audio in a new vehicle. I rather just get in and drive. My challenger alpine system is plenty good for my liking. Even with me trying all sorts of amps, tuning and speakers in my tundra my challenger alpine system still sounds better and maybe even louder and definitely cleaner.

 

Great stereo systems were never the bread and butter of most car audio shops. Sure, they had their flagship installs and loyal customer base and all they needed was a few dozen customers who bought a new car every year or two to keep them busy.

However, what kept the lights on was the audio format upgrades and replacing really awful factory equipment. The tech changed fast through the 70s, 80s, and 90s and OEMs could not keep up (nor did they care, they were too busy chasing emissions, fuel mileage, and eventually horse power). If you ran a shop during that era you were plenty busy upgrading AM/FM to 8-track, 8-track to cassette, cassette to CD, CD to MP3, MP3 to bluetooth. If you managed to get a customer to agree to speaker upgrades its because their factory ones were rotten. The reason high end audio equipment from this era is so rare and collectable now is because they didn't sell that much of it.

Today you can pay a fraction of what a nice install would cost to get the premium OEM audio upgrade and that system is going to have the same tech available to us in the aftermarket. The only reason to upgrade is if you want it louder or lower...but it's already louder and lower than cheap headphones or cheap flat screen tv speakers. It's probably the best audio system most consumers will hear short of going to a live concert.

So high end clientele get their fix from OEM. The average consumer doesn't care, nor did they ever care as long as they can get their music to play. And the enthusiast has YouTube where they can search for their exact make and model vehicle and watch someone install equipment in it.

 

I feel the kids that would have been into car audio are into computer games. Had a small system installed in my daughter’s car last week, talking to the sales guy we discussed how 30 years ago how much different the audio world is vs today. How back then stereo shows would be packed, presently not enough interest to even hold them today.


i don’t feel it’s because factory system are better or that you can’t often times swap the head unit out….. I think it’s just kids find other interests at younger ages (like video games) which follow them through high school and college.

my wife’s daughter who just turned 22, we did a small system in her Honda HRV for x-mas. Lc2, audiofrog components up front, Kenwood 5ch amp and a JL 12in sub. She’s loving it….

 

Your right, they have nothing to compare it to. I did a system for my daughter(my idea, not hers) and she was blown away. She thought I was just putting in a backup camera. She loves it now and will never go back to factory. But at the time she didn't know she wanted or needed it.

 

Thrives are part of the problem too...how many people gave up after getting jacked and never passed on the interest?

I know I got out after my delta was raped...took me about 20 years and moving to a real rural area before installing anything

 

Intrest has dwindled with the younger generation, damn millennials/zillennials.... dont get it twisted though, they still like music. My kids love music, and always have their headphones on. That's good enough for them. I'm sure that's good enough for most now a days. Couple that with the expense of everything in life right now and it's bad news for car audio.

It's not just 1 thing, it's a combination of all the things mentioned already. But it's our job to show our kids that it's the best thing ever. All my kids want sounds when they start driving. And I'll make sure they get it. If we don't keep it alive, then it will just get worse.

 

Damn war on drugs…drug dealers aren’t able to walk in and drop $20K on a slick system anymore. Their margins are smaller and there’s no reason to have a nice system if you’re in the pen. Kids don’t see and hear the drug dealer’s nice system and try to build their own, more affordable, systems. I miss the 80’s and 90’s. I’m only half joking. 😂

 

So there are some people that know what I "hide" is...
I may have had a customer or two ask "how much volume was in the sub box?" They may also have asked, "how easy is it to remove the sub?"

We may have wondered, "is that a coffee scented air freshener?"

Seriously, its about seeing and hearing those systems. We'd hit 2 or 3 shows a weekend within 2-3 hours away. The local drag strip was open and had constant import events. There'd be over 40 cars in these little parking lot events and plenty of spectators. Entry fees were low so anyone could give it a short.
It made business sense to host them and manufacturers provided tons of support ($$$$). It didnt matter what car you had you made it your own and audio was step 1. Now, as long as the phone connects and it sounds as good as ear buds your all set. Your personalization is your next Tik tok and the followers/likes/shares you get.

I noticed at SVR I knew half the people from competing 20 years ago. So there's less attendance for 3 or 4 orgs than there was for 1 in a local Circuit City parking lot and half of those people are die hards. Its hard to even find results when everyone there has the internet in their pocket. My phone rang non stop after awards and the brands were bragging about their success. And what kid can afford the entry fees, let alone the system?

The sun is setting on car audio, its hard to entirely blame youth when there was such a poor job done exposing them to it. Follow the money. There's a few examples here showing how kids reacted after being exposed to it. If not in the car, take your kids to live shows, I admit I've been to a Hatsune Mike concert 😳. But I do have a little system in my car at least and they enjoy it. They DJ from their phones on long trips.

 

I went to many shops in LA when I was looking for some one to do my install. Most turned me away cuz I brought my own gear, others turned me away when I said DSP. Some gave me a ridiculous price tag so I could fvck off. The one that actually wanted my business brought me in and showed me what they were working on.

Work seemed good enough for me so I dropped a deposit and placed my self on the waiting list. Before my number came up, my plans changed completely and I switched it up on them completely. They didn't seem to mind, we talked it out they added some suggestions and we came to an agreement. Then they showed me even more work. Brought out a folder and showed pics of a bunch of installs.

They had already sold me, but they still wanted to show me more. Very good dudes. But what I noticed with 95% of the shops. They were all just simple installs happening in the shops, coaxials or passive with a ported box in the back.

 

I recently came across a discussion online where the poster was questioning why car audio shops have all but disappeared.

Many cited the improvement in factory audio quality. This is obviously true be it integrated subs, applied factory EQ or simply limiting low frequency output to prevent blown woofers.

Others cited difficulty in integrating aftermarket equipment. Also a major issue for the average consumer due to increased cost and the average “old school” installer who dint deal in complexity.

But I had some more thoughts:

Podcasts don’t necessitate high quality audio.

Cell phone signal quality coupled with unlimited minutes.

Smart phones eliminate need for stereo with GPS.

Chipped keys and integrated factory remote start mean less installs of alarms/remote starts and thus less upselling of stereo equipment.

Low/compressed streaming bitrates meant audio quality went to **** for awhile but people were thrilled just to have options in material even if it meant less than CD quality. Less dynamics meant less to chase in audio reproduction.

Vehicle interiors are quieter don’t need music to drown out wind and road noise.

More deadening/panel tightness in the average car meant less disappointment in factory radio.

Difficulty in swapping equipment when more systems go through the factory head unit (hvac, backup camera, even glovebox release).

Vehicle interior cosmetics and shapes equating to aftermarket HU messing with esthetics or just a non fit.

The cost of labor.

The cost of the average car buy in, cost to maintain and possibly more leasing.

The razor thin margins when competing with online and overseas pricing.

The rise of YouTube and DIY tutorials.

The rise of education and knowledge about what materials are needed to “do it right” and the greater costs therein (deadening, cables, integration devices, etc).

The average enthusiast wants it done right and as shops dry up custom installers who can actually do the work competently become harder to come by equating to even less interest in the effort to pursue the cause.

That’s another issue- getting burned by shady, unskilled or incapable shops.

Unless you’re really into audio and given all of the above factors, perhaps most just suffice with the ease of home theater equipment.

So like any murder mystery with many potential suspects maybe Netflix is the proverbial butler! HT killed movie houses, why not car audio too?

I think you are right on every single one of your points. Taken in totality it is a definite reason the shops are getting thin on the ground. One of the big things I feel is the amount of training and technical knowledge to be GOOD at the trade, not to mention the fact that you are disassembling the interior of a 50-200K or more car or truck!

 

My experience….

First system was put into a ‘92 Honda Prelude. Installing new head unit, speakers, and sub box in the trunk with amp was straightforward. Next system was in a ’14 Ford Explorer (a couple of cars in between were kept as stock), and the installer wouldn’t/couldn’t touch the HU, but was ok with replacing speakers and sub. Now I have a ‘21 BMW X5 going. One place I contacted wouldn’t touch it because of the complexity. The installer I chose charged a premium for my install.

My point is that modern cars are becoming a pain in the ass for stereo upgrades. And it’s not just luxury vehicles as the tech trickles down over time. Sure, the younger generation that has grown up on crappy MP3 audio may not care about SQ in a car, but even if they did, the cost of installation is rising due to the level of difficulty.