Do we actually believe that people spending more than $4k cannot be audiophiles? Or people spending more than $10k are all fools? Have no knowledge or any understanding of how "Hi-Fi" should sound. Lock those fools away, don't talk to them, don't listen, they are fools anyway. Besides that, we have all heard equipment costing in excess of $100k, and none of it sounded right.... How stupid they are.... (of course, we conveniently preclude the option that all of the above is stupid as well) Actually....we could go even further, establishing rules, let's say up to $ 2k for the complete high-end set up -> absolute audiophile, up to $3k still audiophile, but becomes questionable, the limit is at $4k, above that, ban them from the audiophile community....
Luckily, I really don't care too much how other's "judge" me, I spend many hours enjoying music the way I like it, in a room I've build with my own two hands, with equipment in it which I have worked for (I'm certainly not rich, so yeah, I have to save money for the equipment I have). Have enjoyed music for more that half a century now, and hope I get another 20-30 years to continue enjoying it...cheers
Luckily, I really don't care too much how other's "judge" me, I spend many hours enjoying music the way I like it, in a room I've build with my own two hands, with equipment in it which I have worked for (I'm certainly not rich, so yeah, I have to save money for the equipment I have). Have enjoyed music for more that half a century now, and hope I get another 20-30 years to continue enjoying it...cheers