Are audiophiles people of sound prejudice?

Uru975. I think dealers should be omitted as they have a financial reason for there bias's. For me, the longer I've been at it the more I learn not to be to certain about my ideals. Tweaks are a good example of that, just when your ready to dismiss something you thought was poppycock, someone shows you how wrong you were, then it's back to humblesville. One thing this hobby has taught me above all else is to keep an open mind. I built my first system in 1972 from a bunch of parts I purchased from Ratshack and to date am still learning how little I really know.

To be fair to dealers some do sell lines that they really like and stay away from the rest others sell what sells and to heck with the rest. So for the latter half I agree with you for the former maybe not.
As for what I know that is system and room dependent get beyond that and I am forced to be open to other ideas.

I have to agree with Tmsorosk in that the more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know and will never know. Everything you learn opens new doors to what you will never know.

Just have to be discerning about what you chase and have fun in the learning.

On a good day,I have heard some systems that have changed completely what I thought was possible and in that exposure changed my prejudice. On others days I'm sure my prejudice caused me to just hear what was missing that I wanted to hear.

"we all hear and listen to or for different things and may have different priorities"

This is a much under-appreciated aspect of the hobby, I think. When we talk about our own likes and dislikes regarding equipment, it's easy to forget that each of us may gravitate toward a different set of the sonic and musical aspects that make up reproduced sound.

Some months ago, one person compared audiophiles to collectors. It made me think of the various gun collectors I know, one of whom cares only for Ruger products, another for black powder, another for single-shot pistols, and so on. Audiophiles can also be quite different in what they want to "collect," with, for exmaple, one concentrating on things like soundstaging, air, and transparency while another focuses more on pace, rhythm, and dynamics.

Here's a budget-priced example: for about the same money, a person can assemble a Sota Moonbeam II, Jolida JD-202A, and a pair Vandersteen 1C speakers, or you could get a Rega RP3, Brio-R, and RS1 speakers. Both systems are good, utilizing components with complementary strengths, but their musical presentations are quite different, and the systems will appeal, or not, to different people based on each person's unique sound prejudices.

I think most dealers do appreciate this, so they carry multiple ranges of products to meet the quite different needs of a wide range of potential customers.

as i think more about the concept of prejudice, i think that some audiophiles are prejudiced against components and /or stereo systems they don't like. they are closed minded when people express preferences which are at odds with their pre-conceived notions of good sound.

i have encountered many cases of this personally, because i tend to prefer stereo systems which are subtractively colored, while most prefer resolution and accuracy, and a lack of coloration.

since audio is a subjective hobby, there is no absolute better or worse sound, only different sets of idiosyncratically based criteria.