@dean_palmer
That is an interesting take you have! You should write a book hypothesizing on how no one will care to read it! For some reason...I find it appealing!
I suspect that many of the folks who routinely post here in this forum are loners. Not that they (we) are loners in life, but let's face it, no one cares about you as much as you should care about yourself. Self-esteem has a lot to do with this hobby and most folks don't realize that fact. You (we) are focused on either trying to get better sound, or are making attempts to help others get better sound..all with differing levels of prosperity and commitment.
With that being said, we all need something - especially in these fraught and tumultuous times - to allow us to get away from fear, anger, mistrust, and varying emotional distress. Getting away to a listening position is a superb way to wallow in your own making - one that generally makes us all feel good about ourselves - so we have a lot in common with one another.
But as audiophiles, we live far and few between one another. Most of us do not have many supporting mechanisms in place with regards to this hobby. Yes, my wife sometimes applauds an upgrade or reacts positively to the music, but she has no idea of how intricately I deliberate over everything that has to do with what being an audiophile means. Although I will admit that her talk of me going "down the rabbit hole" when I started placing sound dampeners and deflectors on our basement walls did get my attention! (However, she did remark later at how good the dampeners sounded! lol). Ok, small victories serve us listening loners well..
I grapple with this hobby daily and all audiophiles find positive reinforcement from it, even if it means you did something wrong and perhaps, "failed". Those whom I subject to sound don't give a rats *** about sensitivity levels, gain, or detail. I catch myself when I talk tech to others whose face grows longer the more I speak..why bother? So, you are correct in stating that, "Once you realize nobody cares about what you bought, you'll be in a better place."
I believe (I will write the prologue for your book!) that what you are inferring is intellectual humility. We all should view the world with the understanding that we know nothing and need to learn everything. That would serve many audiophiles well. Audiophiles should get over their need to post about something they refute as it is counterproductive to learning. I mean, if you can't hear a cable then how have you assessed or aggregated an opine on it?
We are likely incredibly different people - judging from the large swaths of deleted posts! - beyond the scope of sound but we all share the same pride at what each, and others, have created. That is an important feeling of achievement that audiophiles chase after. The "good enough" abstract brought by the OP is generally always a couple of steps away from perfection.
Enjoy the journey!
