Naysayers have been ringing the death knell of high end audio for as many years as I can remember. Same for classical music. Both bell ringers continue to be dead wrong.

Many people gravitate to classical music as they get older and tastes change. The critics always tell the story that classical concerts are filled with middle age and older people. The reason is clear. Not that we don’t enjoy seeing passionate young people attending.

The same can be said for high end audio, except in this case, it’s disposable cash rather than age that holds the younger generation back. If you’ve read this column regularly, you’ll have noticed good quality audio gear isn’t cheap. But introducing youngsters to the avocation is a passion of many audiophiles.

So, the rise in the number of high end audio shows worldwide is instructive. And exciting

I love attending the shows. As soon as one is over and my feet stop throbbing, I’m Jonesing for the next one. I usually don’t have to wait long. Typically, there’s an audio show happening somewhere in the world weekly.

My reporting shows that young people’s attendance seems to be rising. In my day, the only thing we dreamed of owning was a Lamborghini Countach. Now, the sky’s the limit. Nothing wrong with young folks dreaming of owning great audio gear.

TAVES, the Toronto Audio Video Electronics Show is our local show and it’s a good one. If you get a chance to visit, it’s a wonderful opportunity to hear and see the latest and greatest gear and the technologies. Touch the dream, so to speak.

Live in Montreal? It has a really good show, too.

Other famous shows worldwide include Budapest, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bristol, Bangkok, and a multitude in the US. The Munich Audio Show has slowly crept into the top spot for both trade and public, a massive show, organized brilliantly. Nothing but raves coming from Bavaria.

America’s best? That’s an easy one. The Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Denver, CO, which I attended this past weekend. It’s an audiophile love in.

Below are the websites for my top North American shows a day’s drive, or, in the case of Denver, a short flight, and worth it.

Be quick though, Torontonians, TAVES is happening this weekend.

1. TAVES
2. Montreal Audio Show
3. Rocky Mountain Audio Fest
4. Capital Audio Fest
5. New York Audio Show

To read more from the world of high end audio, visit Audiophilia.com

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Anthony Kershaw

Anthony Kershaw is publisher of Audiophilia, the leading online magazine since 1997 for high-end audio and music. Anthony has performed as flutist or conductor with the finest ensembles in Europe and North America. He was a scholarship student at Trinity College of Music, London, where he was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship, and won the Chamber Music Prize (awarded by Sir Yehudi Menuhin) and the Guild Prize as the conservatoire’s Gold Medal winner.

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