How Do We Make HiFi Cool Again For Everyone?

The other day, whilst getting new car tyres fitted, I was flicking through Esquire (or maybe one of those other bloke-ish lifestyle magazines you find stacked up at the tyre change place we were at), and came across a short feature on the Bang & Olufsen Beosystem 3000. Now, I’ve always admired B&O’s design ethos, its clean lines, cool materials, the sort of kit that looks as if it’s fully absorbed the whole concept of “Scandinavian cool.”

But what caught my eye wasn’t the design (though it’s lovely if you like that kind of thing), it was the headline: “A non-naff turntable.”

Now, for those who don’t use the word, or perhaps have only heard it muttered in English sitcoms from the seventies, the Oxford English Dictionary defines naff as “lacking taste or style; unfashionable.” And that’s the rub, isn’t it? Because in pointing out that this particular turntable isn’t naff, the magazine was suggesting (perhaps without meaning to) that most HiFi is.

That word naff lingers like a bad smell. It conjures up the idea of something a bit old hat, a bit embarrassing, stale, a bit behind the times. And if that’s the kind of message that outsiders attach to our hobby, then it’s not just young folks we’re failing to bring in. It’s anyone who doesn’t already own a rack of kit and a meticulously sorted vinyl collection.

Let’s be honest with ourselves! To the outside world, HiFi can look like a bit of an ancient relic. Rows of black boxes, cables thick enough to abseil down a cliff, and dark hotel rooms where a handful of men of a certain age sit in armchairs, nodding approvingly to the same demo tracks and occasionally stroking their chins…most likely with beards attached.

If you’re already in the gang, you no doubt get it. You get the thrill of hearing detail you’ve never noticed before, of being drawn into a performance so much that you forget the gear is even there. But if you’re not already sold on the whole kit and caboodle, it can all look a bit… well… naff.

And that perception isn’t confined to teenagers glued to TikTok, or whatever the latest social media phenomenon is. I suspect plenty of thirty-somethings, fortysomethings (even people who grew up with HiFi in their homes) see it as a slightly weirdo indulgence. A bit like collecting stamps, or joining a model railway club. Perfectly cool if it’s your thing, but not something you’d brag about down the pub for fear of having the piss ripped right out of you.

Which brings me back to the question: how do we make HiFi cool again – for everyone?

One obvious answer in the context of what I’m going on about is design. I wrote about this not too long ago in my piece, Should Home Audio Look As Good As It Sounds?, and the argument feels even more relevant today, after I’ve been writing a few of these Sunday Thoughts pieces and giving the whole thing a lot of thought. We live in a world that is relentlessly visual, sometimes too much so! We photograph our food before we eat it (we have a jokey saying between Lin and I that if we don’t photograph a posh meal then it didn’t happen, but seemingly it does because I’m losing no weight by photographing my food), we record short clips of ourselves brushing our teeth (we don’t, but you get the idea), we set out our living rooms as much for the iPhone camera as for our own enjoyment – some folk make a living out of showing a bit more than they ought on Only Fans where they might have once sold Tupperware to their friends…shudder.  

So why should HiFi be any different? (No, not the Only Fans bit.) A system isn’t just a means of playing music; it’s a piece of furniture, an element of our domestic environment, and, like it or not, a potential prop in how we want others to perceive us – I think folk refer to this as “personal branding”. A turntable that looks like it belongs in a 1970s physics lab might be an engineering marvel, but a turntable that doubles as a design icon will get shared, reposted, and admired – who wouldn’t want one of them in their lives?

Bang & Olufsen has always understood this. So have Devialet, with their shiny, UFO-like Phantoms. Technics, with their reimagined SL-1200s, has embraced the idea of making the gear recognisable and desirable not just for how it sounds, but for how it looks in a photo. There are a good few other brands, so don’t write in moaning if your fave hasn’t been mentioned. 

If HiFi wants to shed its naff image, it has to become Instagrammable. Think less “rack in the corner of the listening room,” more “statement piece in the living space.” Devon Turnbull has got this off to a tee. 

But coolness isn’t only about looks, it’s about association. What makes a pair of trainers desirable? Partly the design, obviously. But mainly it’s who you see wearing them or made them – I bought a pair of Adidas trainers because I liked them, but also because I think Stella McCartney is a cool designer. The same could be true for HiFi. Collaborations in fashion and elsewhere are massive at the moment, but when Technics showed off a special 1200 Mk7 with Lamborghini styling (and at Munich, a car to go with it) younger folk totally got it, whilst some in the audiophile community just didn’t see the connection. 

If a Bang & Olufsen system is pictured in Esquire or turns up in a Hollywood film, it carries a cultural cachet. It isn’t just audio gear anymore – it’s kind of a lifestyle statement. It says something about who you are, what you value, and where you belong. I recall the fab-looking Ferguson horns being used in the Glass Onion film, and had that been my brand, I’d have been screaming about it from the rooftops – I know that when we watched the film, there was much pointing at the screen and exclamations of “Look! Look!”

We don’t often see traditional high-end HiFi in that light. Instead, it’s portrayed as the preserve of hobbyists and obsessives, which, though true in some cases, hardly widens the appeal. I guess the famous British version of this would be a somewhat miserable Scottish detective sitting on their own in a poorly lit room, sipping whisky, and listening to their record player. What if, instead, we saw contemporary artists, fashion designers, film set designers, or cultural tastemakers proudly showing off their beautifully designed turntables and speakers? What if HiFi became a visible part of modern style, the way craft beer, boutique bikes, or vinyl records have become?

It’s about being seen with the “right” people, and about HiFi brands being brave and bold enough to put themselves in those spaces.

Some are exploring cooler choices, while others continue to stick with what’s safe and familiar. And maybe that’s fine. Maybe those sticking with the tried and tested are simply playing to their demographic – middle-aged blokes who want to hear and see what they know. And who can really blame them? They know exactly who they’re talking to. This is very much like last week’s article and the music that gets played at shows.

But if the aim is to grow HiFi beyond its current tribe, we have to think beyond safety. Coolness isn’t about being flawless or predictable – it’s about energy, relevance, and a bit of out-the-box confidence. It’s about taking chances and not being afraid to be seen as being a bit “out there”.

Imagine HiFi systems that not only deliver fabulous sound, but that also embody the same spirit of confidence and swagger in their design and how they are presented. Imagine walking into a showroom where the gear looks like it could have come from a design museum, where the music is fresh and surprising, and where the people in the room aren’t all the usual suspects. That’s the kind of environment that makes someone (whether they’re 25 or 65) think, “I want a bit of this in my life.” People want the whole package! It’s very much like the Apple Store experience I banged on about in a previous article – cool spaces to sell cool products. 

How about this for a thought? What if an audio show room or shop felt less like a busy doctor’s waiting room and more like a proper party? Picture a very cool space with a great DJ at the decks, the atmosphere buzzing, the drinks flowing (drink responsibly, folks), and the place vibrant with a mix of stylish, interesting, and engaging people. The sort of crowd that makes you want to hang around, chat, and take it all in, not just rush through the same demo tracks and shuffle out. And the centre piece being the kind of HiFi that I’ve been banging on about. If HiFi is to be seen as something desirable, then maybe we need to borrow a page from nightlife and culture: create spaces that feel social, vibrant, and (god forbid) fun. After all, music has always thrived in communal settings; why not let events reflect that energy? It’s a tough nut to crack, and we have to be wary that the folk who actually currently buy the gear might not like the idea of walking into a cool pre-club bar setting. It’s a bit of a balancing act to attract new, cool folk whilst not upsetting the current crop of buyers. But attract new blood, we must!

But perhaps this isn’t about abandoning the past; perhaps it’s about connecting it to the present. There’s still room for the classics, but alongside them should be the music, design, and culture of today. That mix is where HiFi stops looking naff and starts looking vital, vibrant, and what people want to be a part of.

To nick a line from the House Music Anthem “…music is a universal language, spoken and understood by all,” and maybe that’s part of the problem. Everyone loves music, and the folk selling the kit have to appeal to a very broad and diverse group of people – and not all those people are going to agree on what “cool” means to them. I suppose what I’m saying is that perhaps making HiFi cool for everyone is a bit of a tall order, and that different markets require different strategies! Horses for courses, and all that!

Anyway, the ideas and concepts are easy things to come up with, but the implementation of these ideas is a whole different story. I can go on and on every Sunday about what folk should be doing to attract new audiences and how we rebirth the cool, but putting those ideas into action requires organisation, and not a small bit of work. However, it’s a starting point and something that opens the discussion as to what might be possible. We have a few ideas in the pipeline here at HiFi PiG…so watch this space.

Stuart Smith

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