Personally I wouldn’t characterize a relatively light-hearted thread about a matter that is essentially inconsequential, that involves individual preferences, and that has no right or wrong answer, as "anti-intellectual" and "dumb," or even as being objectionable in any way. And others have provided good explanations above as to why that thread is receiving many more responses than your preamp thread.
All of which, IMO, does not amount to anything being "wrong here." To the extent that something is wrong here, IMO, it is mainly how the personalities of some members come to the fore in threads about controversial matters that could well be discussed on an intellectual level, and cause those threads to devolve into unconstructive, unpleasant, and nonsensical exchanges. Such as threads about certain controversial tweaks, for example.
BTW, I use a DEQX HDP-5 as my preamp with my XA25, but I haven’t responded in your preamp thread because it’s a whole different thing than a conventional preamp, its use involves a very substantial learning curve, and it wouldn’t meet your stated budget.
Regards,
-- Al