Hi end audio who cares

In my city there are only 3 hi-end dealers. 2 are ran out of houses and the other is rather snobby piano/hi-end place. I wandered into the third a long time ago to hear some Polk 5b's i read about in Stereo Review. I look back now and i'm glad i went in there. Because i was planning on getting some cerwin vega's untill i heard the polks. But till this day if anyone but my salesman sees me walking around in there they make me feel like i'm not good enough to be there. When i go in to BestBuy i feel like i own the place. Maybe if the hi-end places were a little less snobish they could get a few more people into it.

The most difficult thing I encounter in my own family is the perception that my system sounded plenty fine to their ears several iterations ago, and that I should be spending my money on a Spa for the deck.

I have done many many AB test and my girlfriend was there with me, many many times I have an obvious result of a better one and worse one, but all she been saying is..."Paying $500 for a pair of cables and all you do is just plugging them and unplugging them, I aint hearing no difference!$%#^&$!*%$" I played my system for over 20 people, so pathetic! ONLY 3-5 people knows there is a difference from their current "Jump-Out-Of-Box-And-Serve Panasonic/Technics Sony System" with like a million piece of LEDs, and a 100 buttons in one box. Someone also asked "Why do you have water hoses running into your electronics?" I almost choked to death with my Buffalo Wings in my mouth! It's a world of me and my gear, no one else... Maybe here, in Audiogon I would feel like there is also other folks playing the same baseball game here....

Oh also, one day my girl complaint that she doesnt know how to watch DVDs, so I taught her. If I charge $50.00 for an hour teching people how to use my system, I wouldve got so rich from her. It took her 4 hours just to learn how to turn on a DVD player and to play a DVD and get sound from my receiver; plus a little troubleshooting (which is a 2 word SUPER TROUBLESHOOTER "POWERING OFF!"). After one day, she's gonna have to ask me how again, because she couldnt store any process more than 10 steps in her brain. I really tried, I tried....

I am very lucky - my wife doesn't really care about the sound much (she can hear the difference, but doesn't spend much time listening), but she's very supportive of my audio hobby, allowing me to spend large $$$ because she knows how much pleasure it brings me.

I don't waste time trying to show my sytem to others, really. Most people do not "actively" listen to music - they use it for background. If that's all you're going to do, a Bose Lifestyle system works fine (like my wife's in the living room).

If it's your hobby, don't try to make others understand. I suppose it's like a stamp collector or model builder trying to share their hobby. People may "ooooh and aaaah" at your pretty equipment, but few would take the time to critically listen.

It's just as well - there's only one real "sweet spot" on the couch anyway.