No, I don't agree that high end AUDIO owners have become snooty or worse, either from my hands-on experiences AND in the various AUDIO forums that I frequent .
(1) I learned from these people . Experience matters -full stop.
Most of us all started out in a modest budget system and then progressively worked our way up. Some then stepped into the "high-end" strata, which I am interpreting from your post to mean high price / high performance.
(2) Similarly, they don't "flaunt" their kit, but rather informally invite others -- and maybe encourage -- to expand their respective experiences. We all salivate and ogle at say, 007's Aston Martin DB9 ride or an acquaintance's high-end luxury wheels... and then still smile and slowly sigh when real life limitations relegates our dreams to our more modest family car ownership. We enjoyed the tease , I don't see this as snooty nor flaunt.
(3) I never met any types with high-end systems that listens more to certain "types of music" more than anybody else. In fact, quite the opposite. And yes, I have friends with $100K systems that comparatively dwarf my own fine system, but never has any scintilla of uber-competition or arrogance ever surfaced in our common appreciation of this wacky hobby. After all, it's rewards are revealed via a journey and never ever was designed ir contemplated to be a destination
(1) I learned from these people . Experience matters -full stop.
Most of us all started out in a modest budget system and then progressively worked our way up. Some then stepped into the "high-end" strata, which I am interpreting from your post to mean high price / high performance.
(2) Similarly, they don't "flaunt" their kit, but rather informally invite others -- and maybe encourage -- to expand their respective experiences. We all salivate and ogle at say, 007's Aston Martin DB9 ride or an acquaintance's high-end luxury wheels... and then still smile and slowly sigh when real life limitations relegates our dreams to our more modest family car ownership. We enjoyed the tease , I don't see this as snooty nor flaunt.
(3) I never met any types with high-end systems that listens more to certain "types of music" more than anybody else. In fact, quite the opposite. And yes, I have friends with $100K systems that comparatively dwarf my own fine system, but never has any scintilla of uber-competition or arrogance ever surfaced in our common appreciation of this wacky hobby. After all, it's rewards are revealed via a journey and never ever was designed ir contemplated to be a destination