Is it a gender disorder?

The gender difference is that like, all you audiophiles are actually gadget fanatics, and it's pathetic, and you need help.  Like for instance, me, I know to stop at 47 different cooking knives, 5 pairs of speakers, 4 amplifiers, 6 headphones.  Why can't you all be reasonable like me?

Hi,
they can hear for sure and in a mysterious way they can understand new or changes even if not obvious.

My wife has the hearing I wish I had.
But only when I mention to my daughter how much some item cost 3 rooms away......

Rule no. 1. If your wife can’t hear it from the kitchen chances are good it’s a placebo. 

Yes, audiophiles are largely a male only tribe. What this means is not clear.

When you consider all the time, money and energy we put into our hobby, endlessly hunting for something we can't quite define and often without any satisfactory conclusion, comparisons with a certain naval captain chasing some semi mythical white whale arise naturally.

Who knows, maybe all those centuries and centuries of hunting and exploring have left us with the equivalent of an audiophile gene?

Is this addiction a good or a bad thing? Well, there's probably lots of better and worse things to do in life. Such as stamp collecting or needless burning and looting.

On the upside there is always the thrill of finding new gear to explore and for many of us hope springs eternal.