A first

@rpeluso, let me guess! The two friends who came over and love listening to music through their phones & MP3 files are young folk, no?

I had a very similar experience with my grandnephew who listens to everything through his phone & ear buds. He was aware his uncle was/is a music lover and had one of those old folks' stereo systems. Occasionally, he'd try to impress me with his latest music discovery that he thought I'd also enjoy. More often than not, his new discovery was a band from the 60s or early 70s (e.g.  Led Zeppelin; The Byrds; etc.). His parents did the same when they were his age. I always loved the expression on their faces when I'd say something like: "Yeah! I really like those guys! I have a few of their albums in my collection." The first reaction was always disbelief, quickly followed by astonishment, after a bit of a learning lesson about the "new" band.

One day, this grandnephew purchased some new headphones for his phone and told me I just had to listen to them. Of course, they were the latest thing on the market, the absolute best and very expensive (i.e.  80 bucks). I have to say, they actually were pretty impressive. However, he wanted to know how they compared to my home sound system. When I said the new earphones were very impressive but still couldn't hold a candle to his old uncle's stereo system, again, that look of disbelief.

The next time he came to visit, I asked if he'd like to have a listen to his old uncle's stereo system. You know ... that contraption that old folks listen to music on. I made a point of having him sit in the sweet spot, apologized for not having any Rap, and put on some Acoustic Alchemy for him to sample. This time, a look of sheer amazement! His jaw dropped to his chest and, quite uncharacteristically, he was absolutely silent & motionless for about 5 minutes or so, until he uttered "Oh wow!" and then remained silent & motionless for the rest of the album. We had things to do & places to go. So, there wasn't enough time to listen to some of those "new" bands, like Led Zeppelin, The Byrds, etc. Next time he visits, I'll have him look through the collection and pick out something that interests him.

Yeah, I'm also a lonely audiophile banished to the basement.  That's OK.  I have it set up in the right place.  

People come over and are in shock.  I  didn't know there was so many sounds in the music.  My son wants to hear it loud. Imagine an XA25 getting pushed to the limit with Crites Cornscalas!!  Once in awhile somebody understands.  Usually me solo, wife rarely.

My experiences typical of all the above, very few appreciate anything about it. People will often say something like "that's really clear", on to talking about other things having nothing to do with audio.

Closest analogy for myself. I've often encountered very expensive home theater rooms and systems, couldn't really care less. Its like all booms, bangs, explosions, blah, blah, blah to me, and I can hardly tell the difference between video setups. I listen to my own relatively lame home theater system at low volume, disconnected subwoofe, at least seven year old tv. The whole thing is beyond me.

I have a friend from college who still has a Radio Shack receiver and speakers and is still very happy with his rig.  He also thinks I’m nuts for the amount of money I’ve spent on hifi. I’ve been telling him forever, that as long as it makes him happy, great, but I’m sure he doesn’t believe me.

@rpeluso , judging by your last post you have a lot to discover. If a system does not have an obvious optimized listening position there is something or a lot of things wrong. The better the system (I include the room in this) the more obvious is the "sweet spot" which is really a sweet Line perpendicular to the speakers. It is impossible for a stereo to image everywhere. It can sound nice everywhere but it can only image on that line. People who think they have a wide "sweet spot" usually have a very poor one due to phase and amplitude irregularities. Most of these problems can be solved but there are rooms/situations that will never perform well.