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Snobbery in Hi-Fi. Why are people so stupid and turn their noses up at gear costing much less which is just as good?

Mort said:
Is he not on your ignore list yet?
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Haha, yes absolutely, I just get tempted to un-hide every now and then to see what people are talking about. The flesh (or the mind) is weak.:)
 
This one pairs really well with Spotify playing in the background.

I
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But I hope this owner doesn't use an incredibly unreliable Hypex NCx252MP, or ruin the beautiful sight with something, I don't know, like a Buckeye?

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Keith_W said:
It's not just for mud, it's also for snow and wet shoes. And if you are Asian or the type of family who don't wear shoes in the house, a mud room is great for removing your shoes, hanging your winter coat, storing wet umbrellas, etc. In most Australian homes, there is no transition between indoors and outdoors. A mud room creates that transition and reminds guests not to bring dirt from the outside into your well-maintained and clean home. I wish I had one, it's always awkward to remind people to remove their shoes when they come to my place. My floor is so clean that you could eat off it, and I want to keep it that way.
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We have a dog...the whole house is a mudroom.
 
pinger said:
Watches are not a good comparison or analogy to audio cables. Watches do have accuracy differences ( however minute _ no pun intended) and large differences in durability, features , ergonomics, looks etc. Cables dont really have any of that. Using watches as a comparison just muddies the waters
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LOOKS: a primary reason people spend on cables (mine are thicker than yours and I have to put them on trestles to keep them off the floor). Yep, bragging rights.
Look at this (and I spent more than you, so there!).
 
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snobbery is every where: watches , cameras, cars, boats, Home audio. Who really cares, if one enjoys their system at any cost then thats fine. Lots of people just like to show off stuff that they own. Just because someone has more expensive stuff doesn't make them know more or smarter about their hobby.

Just to add to this: My father owned many nice sports fisherman's boats, he won many times Fisherman Sportsman of the Year awards, I met many of his so-called friends at Marinas on Long Island who had multi-million dollar fishing boats they really did not know how to fish as they needed captains to run the boat setup lines etc. These people wanted praise from me or something but they were just commoners with lots of money.
 
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Yeah, I just love great value things. I rarely feel the need to spend more to get more. I have found that even friends don't care what clothes I wear, what watch I wear, etc. So if they don't, why would strangers? I love my stuff, and love that I don't have to spend a lot to have personal possessions I care about.
 
Newman said:
Yes, I think people are looking at the results of specific cultural imprints within specific social orders, and personal social life imprints, and mistaking it for human nature.
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Some people are extremely triggered by the idea that *someone somewhere might be getting something for nothing" (nods to H.L Mencken's definition of Puritanism "The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.") Especially if that someone is, let's say, of lesser socioeconomic status.

Social science says there is indeed a strong valence in good old naked ape H. sapiens towards the concept of fairness, its converse being, visceral reaction to 'unfairness'. (but we're also very good a defining what is 'fair' in ways that are self-serving, or even quite stupid)

Newman said:
All perfectly natural mistakes in terms of cognitive distortions....and all the more reason to look to science for real answers, not gut feel. And the real answer seems to be that me me me is not us us us.
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Watch the new crop of revolting/heroic (depending on your politics) gazillionaires closely. Looks what they are obsessed with now: living forever and creating a machine god.

Newman said:
And yet it shows how far people will stretch in order to defend snobbiness in hifi circles, as mentioned in the thread title!
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It's quite remarkable how libertarian stances that were once fringe at best, even considered crackpottery, have steadily moved into 'common sense' territory since the 1970s or so. In fact it has been remarked upon, and the campaign -- it was a plutocrat-funded campaign -- documented very well in Jane Mayer's famous 2016 book Dark Money.
 
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krabapple said:
That you can only allow 'envy' as a basis for criticism, says a lot.
We are always looking for excuses for our failings, aren't we?
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Wait, telling others that spending their own money on luxury goods is snobbery and they are doing so for ego is a criticism?

"How egotistical of you to spend $85k on a BMW, when you can buy a used Toyota Corolla for $15k. You brought that BMW just to be snobby to me and to look down on me."

I don't know, that does not sound like a criticism to me. It sounds like someone if butting into other people's business because they are . . .maybe. . .I don't know. . .envy or lack of self confidence?
 
It's starting to look like snobbery is one of those things that, like bias, is easily spotted....except when one might have it, in which case suddenly it becomes about anything, anything else. :p :cool:

Come on. This thread, as established in post #1, is actually about brand bias.
 
PristineSound said:
Wait, telling others that spending their own money on luxury goods is snobbery and they are doing so for ego is a criticism?

"How egotistical of you to spend $85k on a BMW, when you can buy a used Toyota Corolla for $15k. You brought that BMW just to be snobby to me and to look down on me."

I don't know, that does not sound like a criticism to me. It sounds like someone if butting into other people's business because they are . . .maybe. . .I don't know. . .envy or lack of self confidence?
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At least the 85K BMW is a lot different performance wise than the 15K Corolla. Buying expensive audio gear and claiming their $5000 DAC sounds better than your $200 DAC is where people start pushing back and rightly so.
 
pinger said:
At least the 85K BMW is a lot different performance wise than the 15K Corolla. Buying expensive audio gear and claiming their $5000 DAC sounds better than your $200 DAC is where people start pushing back and rightly so.
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I get your point--but even so, what does it matter if the 5k dac's owner finds that it "sounds better"?
After all, the perceptability of the BMW's superior performance depends on whether its owner gets the opportunity to test it :) . Otherwise, in the very basic, inner city use, the Corolla may actually better the BMW in practicality-- easier parking, no worries about it being scratched, cheaper to run etc.
The prestige factor of the BMW, however, is always there (for those that are affected)
 
pinger said:
At least the 85K BMW is a lot different performance wise than the 15K Corolla. Buying expensive audio gear and claiming their $5000 DAC sounds better than your $200 DAC is where people start pushing back and rightly so.
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The claims that I've seen on this thread so far is that, some people like the aesthetics. Some people prefer the country of origin and equate that with reliability and better support. Maybe some may have also said they prefer a brand's history and prestige.

But even for those who are making claims that a $5000 DAC sounds better, is it ok by you that that spend their own money?

Or do you plan to say: "You snobby, egomaniac, you brought that $5,000 DAC just so you can make me feel like crap and to look down on me. All you rich people are the same, your mere existence is an insult to us poor people. I hate you for buying a $5,000 DAC."
 
Gregm said:
I get your point--but even so, what does it matter if the 5k dac's owner finds that it "sounds better"?
After all, the perceptability of the BMW's superior performance depends on whether its owner gets the opportunity to test it :) . Otherwise, in the very basic, inner city use, the Corolla may actually better the BMW in practicality-- easier parking, no worries about it being scratched, cheaper to run etc.
The prestige factor of the BMW, however, is always there (for those that are affected)
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Yes, I love my classic 97 manual BMW 318is with no screen, no digital display, no start/stop. No one cares about my car except myself very little prestige from the outside world a relic from the past.
 
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