How old are ASR's users?

[bachatero]

I was interested in seeing the demographics of ASR's userbase to know what kind of people we're dealing with here. However, it's hard to get this information since there's no statistics page providing it. So, I wrote a Python script to scrape all 77K user profiles and gather the ages of everybody who provides it just to see what kind of data we're dealing with. I then analyzed it and got these beautiful statistics.

Age summary (all in years)
Mean: 47.8
Mode: 44
Median: 46
1st quartile: 37
3rd quartile: 58
StDev: 14.9
Total count: 51666

Looks good, but that doesn't really tell us much other than that the average ASR user is in their 40s. How about a histogram?

From here, we see that the most common ages are in the 40s. The distribution is also heavily skewed to the right. Note that this is just the ages of those who made it publicly available, so the real distribution might be different. I don't know why there are these weird peaks that dwarf everything else.

Now you know how old ASR's users are!

 

[Blumlein 88]

I've seen magazines do this periodically many times. The numbers are just about the same as yours going back to at least the 1970s.

 

[Keith_W]

I wonder if the distribution might be different on a subjectivist forum. Many of us start as subjectivists before we "see the light" and start junking all those silly beliefs. The demographic might be a bit younger?

Does your Python script work for other forums? Like SBAF or WBF? Although I suspect that WBF is full of old people driving their Mercedes to country clubs. It certainly gives me that vibe.

 

[Mnyb]

I also suspect that some of the younger folks never been "subjectivist" . I was along for the ride when hifi steered into the subjectivist ditch in the 80's it's like boiling a frog you slowly get conditioned to more and more absurd "truths" .

I think we can thank computer audio and headphones for even having younger folks with us ( I will be 55 this year ) setting up a large pair of speakers in a living room is simply not done anymore for a large a majority .

 

[KenMasters]

I agree with Mnyb - in my experience it's the older audio enthusiasts fed a steady diet of audio publications back in the day that are more staunchly on the subjectivist train. I think younger budding enthusiasts have benefitted from the internet's broader coverage of the subject.

 

[Verig]

I think we can thank computer audio and headphones for even having younger folks with us ( I will be 55 this year ) setting up a large pair of speakers in a living room is simply not done anymore for a large a majority .

The need for an USB dac certainly changed the market and feel of things.

 

[Ron Texas]

Happy birthday to me, I'm a hundred and three... Old people are more worried about whether they will wake up tomorrow than whether their amplifier has a SINAD of 80 or 110.

 

[Puddingbuks]

I never fill in my real birth date.

 

[Ken Tajalli]

Happy birthday to me, I'm a hundred and three.

Seriously??

 

[Ken Tajalli]

I never fill in my real birth date.

Does that mean Pudding is not your first name?

 

[egellings]

I'm a regular ASR reader and am 77 years old, dag nabbit.

 

[blueone]

I wonder if the distribution might be different on a subjectivist forum. Many of us start as subjectivists before we "see the light" and start junking all those silly beliefs. The demographic might be a bit younger?

I doubt the age distributions will be much different, but I bet the IQ distributions will be...

 

[bachatero]

Does your Python script work for other forums? Like SBAF or WBF? Although I suspect that WBF is full of old people driving their Mercedes to country clubs. It certainly gives me that vibe.

I never knew these places even existed until now, but at first glance SBAF doesn't look too bad and WBF should work right away once I make an account.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

I got interested in audio in the early '60s. I was born in the same year as 3 living former US presidents as well as, gasp, Cher. I've always been interested in the numbers.

 

[Soria Moria]

I was interested in seeing the demographics of ASR's userbase to know what kind of people we're dealing with here. However, it's hard to get this information since there's no statistics page providing it. So, I wrote a Python script to scrape all 77K user profiles and gather the ages of everybody who provides it just to see what kind of data we're dealing with. I then analyzed it and got these beautiful statistics.

Age summary (all in years)
Mean: 47.8
Mode: 44
Median: 46
1st quartile: 37
3rd quartile: 58
StDev: 14.9
Total count: 51666

Looks good, but that doesn't really tell us much other than that the average ASR user is in their 40s. How about a histogram?

View attachment 384996
From here, we see that the most common ages are in the 40s. The distribution is also heavily skewed to the right. Note that this is just the ages of those who made it publicly available, so the real distribution might be different. I don't know why there are these weird peaks that dwarf everything else.

Now you know how old ASR's users are!

Is there really someone who is almost 100 here?

 

[Verig]

Is there really someone who is almost 100 here?

That would be older than Soria Moria slott in writing. Not bad. (I'm guessing not really.)

 

[amper42]

I guarantee you the average age on ASR is not 46 or 47. Everyone lies about their age!
It's very likely the majority of audiophiles will die off in the next 10 years.
Kids are not interested in big speakers, SINAD or any of that. They are totally happy with earbuds and boom boxes. Even standard TV speakers are fine for most of them. They are having trouble affording a place to live and Audio is far down the list of wants.

 

[bachatero]

Kids are not interested in big speakers, SINAD or any of that. They are totally happy with earbuds and boom boxes. Even standard TV speakers are fine for most of them. They are having trouble affording a place to live and Audio is far down the list of wants.

What about the kids in 2002 who were happy with an iPod and dirtybuds? If you were 20 in 2002, you're 42 now.

 

[amper42]

What about the kids in 2002 who were happy with an iPod and dirtybuds? If you were 20 in 2002, you're 42 now.

Most who were 20 in 2002 and now 44 in 2024 still don't have a stereo system. They use the iPhone and earbuds. Some think they are going crazy with Audio if they buy a bluetooth speaker that can also be used with their TV. They pay thousands a month for child care and are glad they bought a home when it was less expensive but now they are focused on saving for retirement and vacations for the family. Audio is not important. That's something their father was into. We don't need it but maybe when He dies they will try out grandpa's old gear or give it to goodwill.

 

[bachatero]

They pay thousands a month for child care and are glad they bought a home when it was less expensive but now they are focused on saving for retirement and vacations for the family.

I don't think you're describing kids anymore, but rather Millennials who are now in their 30s and 40s. For those of us who in their 20s, it's hard to say what the future holds but to me it looks brighter than what those Millennials are dealing with.