are any of your friends audiophiles?

Saygrr, DO NOT be apologetic for your hobby! Stop frowning and feeling bad for yourself! I've met you and know from what I've seen that you're a considerate and softly spoken man. You tend to speak as though you're apologetic, and people will take advantage of that and verbally skewer you.
Consider if this individual has his own tendencies toward behavior that is clearly idiotic. Does he spend money on lotto tickets? Does he blow ton's on car accessories that depreciate? etc. (Hey, people, that's my perspective and maybe not yours; I'm not out to start anything, just leading Saygrr think a bit about the situation. From what I know of Saygrr, he's conservative and can relate to this comment.) I doubt that he's fiscally perfect. And if he has a "hobby" or sport I'll bet he drops PLENTY on it, unless he's a total cheapskate. In that case, he's likely not worth knowing better than on a working relationship level. Consider the source of verbal put-downs; often they should be weighted zero importance.

You need to drop by my place for a good time listening session! Get your tunes ready and give me a call!

My two best friends caught the bug from me, like me they don't upgrade often.

It would appear that we are all really a hi-fi show, but not all at the same place.

Gawdbless, I used to race catamaran sailboats. If you want to see crazies with a passion, you should see sailboat racers. In the big boats they talk about less expensive tweaks as those costing less than $100,000. It was not that expensive at my level but still crazy.

are any of your friends audiophiles? No, they've all joined twelve-step programs except for me!?

Happy (music, NOT equipment) Listening!