Does hearing the best in high end audio make your opinions more valid?

As a senior audio tech for 35+ years I have to say that exposure to the best equipment/sound is NOT a yardstick to measure someone's opinions. I seen/worked with people who had access to the most expensive, finest equipment that couldn't tell the difference between great sound and listening to sound on a tin can through a string. Everyone's hearing is different and mine is good but I've known guys in the business who could hear things that I couldn't like distortion that I could only see on a test set. The person is more important than the equipment they've listened to if you are looking for qualified opinions. A lot of audio snobs will tell you a bunch of B.S. about their extremely expensive equipment but it doesn't mean they can really hear the difference, even if they're honest they may be influenced by the cost or the appearance (like appraising furniture) more than the real sound. 

I take every opportunity at shows, stores, peoples houses, live venues, whatever to have opportunities to hear different things and what might sound or work best for me. Does that make my opinion more valid? It does for me and that’s all I can bank on.

You can’t hit the target if you don’t know where the bullseye is. Everyone hears differently and has a different target that they are shooting for. Some targets are more similar than others, some might be total night or day.

Scale is a big factor in cost.   It cost way less to get the best possible sound in a smaller room than a very large one.   Paying top dollar for gear that will go on a smaller room is probably not very cost effective but as said in anything high end bling is a factor for many as well. 

I’ll go out on a limb and say a reliable indicator of a truly good system is it makes all kinds of music sound the best it can, acoustic or electronic. It’s all music. Can’t pick and choose.

OK, who woke mapman up? And why didn’t he post once with all those thoughts together in the same post instead of three separate posts? Oh, wait a second, I think I know why........😬