Who's winning?

External judgement, why should you care. Internal judgement, whatever floats your boat, you make up a story in your mind, this your truth, if goals all there is, missing out on much. $30k speaker person is audiophile, this is a journey filled with many ups and downs, learning experiences, soundbar person not on this journey, end of story.

When you frame humanities in terms of winning/losing, you've already lost.

That said, I'll take the speakers for $30k.

Has soundbar guy heard 30k speaker guy’s?

A question not well posed will gave useless answers.

That’s simple.  The person who is happy with what they have is the winner.  My brother for example, is very happy listening to the same music that’s been on his phone for years and listening to it from the 1/4” speakers in his phone.

Being happy with what you have or at least what you have at the moment is usually based on having realistic expectations. I really enjoy both a great song on my average car system as well as my very nice home system. Similarly, I enjoy watching my high school grandkids play sports & appreciate that level of talent & effort as well as watching the pros play at an elite level. I really enjoy a simple bowl of Vietnamese noodles in broth ( Pho) & also a top meal at a good fine dining restaurant.