The average Joe, via AirPods and the like, in 2026 has access to vastly better audio than in 2005.

In 2005, you had serious and expensive high end audio from the established brands (Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic etc.) and you had consumer audio for consumer prices that sounded pretty terrible: no bass extension, flat mids.

In 2026 you have:

- Serious and expensive high end audio from the established brands (maybe even some of the same models as 2005...)

- A new category of convenience driven "mid-fi" like all the Sony, Bose etc. ANC headphones and AirPods Pro - often with the "laid back, a lot of bass, slightly recessed mids" sound signature but still producing very acceptable sound

- Consumer audio for consumer prices, but now even the cheap earbuds and headphones (JBL, chinese brands etc.) sound by all means passable, are wireless, have good battery life

I would say there has never been a better time to be a "good sound enjoyer" than now.