WHY DO SOME AUDIOPHILES THINK YOU ARE BRAGGING WHEN YOU ARE SHARING?

@stereo5 it’s best to remember that hatefulness or talking down to someone is just an attempt to make the person, doing the hurting, feel better with themselves. This type of behavior stems from insecurity and you shouldn’t let it bother you although I know it’s hard not to. One of the problems with social media is believing you are dealing with like minded people. I often project onto my readers/responders my own ideas about what is acceptable behavior when in fact these ‘strangers’ are very much their own people with their own ideas. While it’s nice to get flattering remarks from people we do not know it’s often much better when coming from someone we love. Of course that’s a double edged sword given the fact if someone we love commenced to be hateful or mean or accusatory. It’s understandable you’d want to share your joy in this forum but remember to take any response with a grain of salt. Ultimately you know what you got and at the end of the day that’s what counts. Haters gonna hate. Its just the way they are. 

Many years ago, when I occasionally sold "hifi" equipment, people sometimes chose equipment which would never have been my choice. But the smile on their face, the satisfaction I could see on their face was always enough for me to hold back a bit, and respect the choices made by them. I could have started to explain why I thought there was other equipment performing better at the same price level, but in the end what counts is that people are happy with their choices. I could always congratulate them, telling them they had made a good choice. This also applies to equipment being more expensive, people do compare, do listen, however other aspects like visible appearance and so on come into play as well. Finally, when the choice is made, whether it be for a $ 1 k or $ 500k system, everybody is proud of the choice he/she's made. So everybody will want to explain the motivation for that particular choice. There is no reason for dispute. Individuals make different choices, based on knowledge, advises, experience, or other preferences. We should respect, and congratulate. Bragging about, or showing off with audio equipment may not be the most logic choice, it's much easier to brag about or show off with your new Mercedes, BMW or Breitling/Rolex. If I mention to my neighbor or other friends that I'm using brand "A" for my speakers, they would seriously advise me to go and listen to the latest model of Pioneer or Bose or ........ speakers, they are really good. If I tell people about my amps, they look at me as if I'm quite stupid, I'm advised to listen to local (=Indonesian) manufactured brands, which can be had for $ 250,- deliver also 2x 200 Watt, and can go really -way too- loud as well. All I'm saying is that bragging about your high-end audio equipment doesn't really work that well. On this forum members tend to be skeptical / cynical about so called "high-end", (costing more than $ 5k for the whole system) so you better not publish it here should you own something costing more than average. Other forums have their members mentioning the equipment they are using, which in a way is nice, so you may find members who have made the same or similar choices like yourself. It is easier to contact such members, and raise particular questions about that particular equipment/set-up. There is no bragging at all. Okay, some spend more than others, so what is wrong with that?? Some jealousy will always be there, what's wrong with that? We all have our own budgets, and have to buy within such budget, so that's a matter of fact. But it doesn't mean that I can't appreciate that somebody has nicer equipment than what I have, if the guy is happy, so why not. 

Great points.  We all made are choices for a reason. So share and enjoy 1k 50k or 500k. Just enjoy!

@N80
+ 1 (Plus, we're all free to be nuts about our hobby. I think it helps if we understand and acknowledge that we're nuts and that our chosen form of insanity might not be for everyone). 

Nuts in the eyes of others. That's okay, as long as we believe to understand our own motivation/justification for our hobby. The moment we feel/realize we are nuts ourselves, we may probably be better off spending the money on a shrink. ;)

I'm in the business myself. Very few people who are really 'nuts' ever think they are nuts. ;-)