I'm frustrated with people who don't ...


Sorry for a long post...
Recently I was at a 3-day meeting out of town for work. For an evening activity we had a cook out at a colleague's house. While there, we gathered around his deck and a small fire in the back yard. I found myself in a group of 6 guys discussing hobbies. I mentioned my love for audio and began to describe my system and music library. Almost instantly, I was "pounced" for believing that any "hi end" component is worth the money compared to anything else one can buy from Best Buy. "Digital is digital" one guy stated, "an $89 player is as good as anything else out there". I attempted to defend my position but in no way was I able to convince anyone. I told them the next time they're in town, I'd have them over to my place and let them hear the difference, but I know most will not acknowledge the quality of sound. Footnote: I've known these guys for 3-5 years and they are professional level headed guys, I wasn't bragging, I made no grand statements that my system is better than anything else, I just talked about my interest and brought it up when they asked me. The icing on the cake was their disbelief that my system can only play one CD at a time... "you don't have a carousel on your CDP?" Man, I was frustrated.
mijknarf
Despite the hyperbolic language used to describe sonic differences the audiophile world is about subtle nuances. The general public is simply not into nuance. Whether it's music, cars, politics, food, sports or religion most people (American's anyway) only want direct, unambiguous, readily digested, instantly gratifying morsels of information. There's a reason why it's call "pop" culture.
Even with myself being on the low end of the food chain here I get a little ribbing from a good friend on how much I spent as he is listening to 20 year old mass market stuff with mismatched speakers. I just tell him that compared to people on Audiogon...my stuff is just a molecule in the drop in the bucket...Then he tells me my stereo sounds good and that he doesn't understand why anybody would need to spend more...guess I did a good job of passing the buck.
Just face it. This is an insane hobby where we are never satisfied. We are crazy to pay what we do for this stuff. Thousands for recorded sound coming out of a Marshall or Fender amp with $10 stings on the giutars. The sudios use eq's galore but we cannot without messing with purity. Your friends are correct - you are insane. You just appreciate your insanity and along with the rest of our population thrive on it and will defend it to the wallet. They are insane in their own hobbies. Just talk about music - you will save yourself a lot of grief. We only represent less than 1% of the population otherwise Best Buy would carry our stuff. Notice high end TV is in Best Buy at prices we pure audiophiles think is absurd. They also have a refrigerator with a TV built in the door for 2599.00. I bought the 399 one. Refrigeratorphiles are not happy that I do not understand.
To each his own. Don't let it get you down. Those who've been opening the egg at the wrong end since birth have little idea how crude it appears to others :^)
When people talk about their cheap Best Buy systems, I just say it sounds fine, and then move on to the next subject. When people come over and hear my system and make remarks on how clean or good it sounds, I just say "thank you" and move on. I gave up many years ago trying to educate the masses. If they are happy with their MP3's, let them have them.