Is high end audio to snooty for its own good?


I think it has become that way. Some people flaunt that they have high end systems and they listen to certain kinds of music and I think it puts the hobby in a negative light at times.
calvinj
I think manufactures or salespeople can become snooty.  The audiophiles that I know with systems way more expensive than mine just like music and sharing it.  Sometimes the technical talk goes over my head since a lot of them are advanced DIY types.
High end audio.  High end wine. High end sports cars.  High end fill in the blank.

In all cases, buying from the "high end" of the market will involve a fair bit of snob appeal.  Some people drive Ferraris because they track them, some because they're beautiful cars, some because they feel good behind the wheel, and some because they like to drive around in a rolling sign advertising their liquid net worth.  Without a shred of supporting data, I'd guess that the percentages are probably more similar than different across the categories I mentioned above.

Yeah, they're all probably a bit snootier than I'd prefer, but they're probably just snooty enough for their own good.  That is, snooty enough to maximize the dollars.  Remember, for every ten regular folks turned off by the air of superiority, all you need is one billionaire to go all-in.
I've noticed that occasionally someone unnecessarily works into a comment the name/brand of some piece of equipment they own and I've wondered about it.  I think it's more that they really love the piece than it is flaunting it.  I'm not sure it has to do with the value of the thing, but maybe it does.  I've been hanging around here more than ten years and haven't experienced a lot snootiness.
I listen to a lot of different styles of music and so do a lot of others here.  Some listen to one or just a few styles.  If that happens to be classical it might come off stuffy sounding but I think it may be more in the ear of the beholder rather than the attitude or intent of the person in question.  I have to say the pursuit of accurate reproduction of a particular style of music has made a difference in my quest for audio excellence.  When I was young I boosted the bass and treble a lot, with high volume, trying to reproduce the sound of a rock band.  Now I want a system that's good for acoustic combo jazz and chamber music, yet I find that same system is also good for rock, etc. as well.  It's been a long journey and I'm still learning, largely from the folks here.
Not filled w/ snooty people, but, it is laden w/ "flakes".
Keep me posted & Happy Listening!