I often wonder where the tipping point is in the world of hi-fi purchasing. When does someone decide to stop buying the standard products sold in chain stores or via Amazon, and instead take the step up to performance hi-fi? What are the key influences that set someone on the path in pursuit of perfect sound?

Each year, I reassess the marketplace to identify the key influences in the buying process. I speak to my clients, retailers, their customers, my friends, family, their friends – even random folk in the pub or barbers – to better understand what hi-fi they buy. There are many consistent themes year-on-year, but the details do shift.

The internet is now undoubtedly the number one source for researching about hi-fi and how to upgrade. We have a world of information at our fingertips and can uncover most of what we need to know. Yes, the internet can whet one’s appetite and help guide a purchase, but I don’t think it’s the actual tipping point.

Hi-fi magazines used to be the go-to source for product information. There were so many of them on newsagents’ shelves that their glossy covers often sparked a lifelong passion for audio. We should make the most of these magazines while they’re still around – many have seen their circulation fall dramatically over the last decade, and not all have successfully transitioned online. If you’ve got a few spare pounds and some free time, I urge you to buy one.

Each month, I receive multiple copies of hi-fi magazines from around the world, and I try to do my bit to promote them. Whenever I visit the doctor or dentist, I leave a few copies in their waiting rooms. It’s always reassuring to return and see well-thumbed editions still on the table. Hopefully, I’ve encouraged someone to enter our world. Yes, our world! Why ‘our’? Because if you’ve read this far, you’ve already joined the world of performance hi-fi.

Now for the big one: how do you like to hear your music? Personally, I’m not a fan of in-ceiling speakers, and I’ve heard enough premium in-car systems in Bentleys and Maseratis to know I don’t enjoy music surrounding me from every angle. What I like is sound coming straight at me. Two speakers: left and right. I have two ears, slightly tilted forward (I’m not an apex predator), and I prefer soundwaves to be directed right at them. I don’t need remixed sixties albums that try to play tricks with my ears – just give it to me straight. Like I’m at a gig.

‘Just like a gig’. This is one of the biggest tipping points. Time and again, when I ask people why they started buying serious hi-fi, they say it’s because they wanted to recreate the feeling of live music at home. Live performance is a near-universal love. If a home system can move you almost as much as the real thing, then you’re onto something special. All the manufacturers I work with understand this. They don’t produce mass-market electronics with weak melodies, feeble bass, and grating treble. They build systems to move you.

But there are a couple more big influences, and the next one is huge. 

Friends. I once worked for a company that published several hi-fi and technology magazines. Each year, we ran reader surveys asking about purchasing habits and spending power. Friends were always a major influence. When it came to loudspeakers, turntables, and amplifiers, a friend with a ‘proper’ hi-fi setup was often the number one tipping point. The typical story? A respondent visits a friend’s house, hears what they’ve been missing in a familiar recording, and suddenly, next stop: the hi-fi shop?

Penultimately, and you knew this was coming, a store like Loud & Clear in Leith will change your perception of audio systems. The showroom window is full of enticing gear, and I’m sure if you’ve ever walked by, you’ve been tempted to go in. If you haven’t yet, do it. A specialist hi-fi shop offers something magazines and the internet never can: you can listen to the product and decide if it’s compatible with your ears, your home, and your lifestyle. Let the music seduce you and help you find your own tipping point.

Lastly, hi-fi shows are brilliant places to explore, listen, and perhaps even be upsold. I’m off to the High-End Show in Munich in a few weeks. I’ll let you know how it goes next month. I have a date with a pair of loudspeakers priced well above £100,000 – which is a whole different level of tipping point altogether.

Matt Tasker, April 2025