Haha yes. One day a friend turned up with a classic Ferrari and said, want to go for a spin? I didn't say "pfft, my Nissan will get me from A to B more rationally and cost-effectively" did I? No I didn't.
I haven't watched the video yet, looks like I should.
Edit: ok a lot of very nice kit but hard to watch, narrator's tone matched that screenshot font :-//
Indeed.
I've been to various audiophile domains, some truly crazy obsessives, and also wealthy audiophiles homes. One guy was an art dealer in NYC, had just the kind of elaborate downtown apartment one might picture from that, but was also an audiophile. He had a huge system, expensive speakers, currently hyped "amps of the moment," etc. When he asked if I wanted a listen and I saw all the thick cables on risers I didn't say "
pfft, no thanks I can see you buy in to some nonsense." I said "sure" and ended up having a great time listening to some fabulous sound. Similarly at another audiophile's place (editor of an audio mag) who never met a tweak he didn't like, I heard some astonishing playback of recorded sound that sticks with me to this day. Of course I wouldn't attribute it to all the sillier tweaks in the system, but that doesn't mean this guy didn't actually have a pretty good ear for also selecting the components that mattered, and setting up for great sound.
Similarly, I can see some nonsense in the home of the audiophile in the video, but I'd still love to hear the systems. I get that many here are set on particular goals that steeply winnow out what type of gear they will be interested in (and which gear they will decry). It's why we see a fair amount of repetition in the speakers that people tend to recommend or speak highly of (Genelec, KEF, Revel...etc). While I get the devotion to strict accuracy or gear that performs well for a sane price: Personally I'm just as fascinated by the idiosyncrasies of different approaches to audio and how they sound. Those Aries Cerat speakers powered by the absurdly priced Wavac giant single ended amps? I'd LOVE to hear that! Maybe the Wavac's distortion would be audible, maybe it wouldn't. Maybe the Aries Cerat speakers would sound weird or off-putting, maybe they'd sound phenomenal. Maybe the owner has somehow hit on a combination that would produce sound that blew my mind. Or even if it didn't, it would be fascinating to hear (and to hear what the owner judges as great sound).
The very pricing of lots of this gear throws down a sort of gauntlet "ok, it costs how much? Let's see what you bring to the table. Try and impress me." For me that's fun at audio shows, as well as wherever I hear it, at audiophile homes or whatever.
Again...horses for courses...I know other people can't be bothered with gear that doesn't suit their more strict goals or criteria.
