Every audiophile hifi shop I’ve ever seen has at least one $50k+ system. I think that the vast majority of people in this particular crowd have never even been inside a legit audiophile shop — let alone an audiophile convention. To me, this explains why so many valid posts tend to get downvoted, and why this group in general seems not to relate well to descriptive terminology that audiophiles use.

I think instead of just reading about what people should hear and like, people need to pop their audiophile cherries and actually hear first-hand what a properly set up system is capable of, and then get advice from the shops they like best because they are all different.

These conventions are like wine or Scotch tasting sessions for audiophiles. Every serious audiophile should make it a goal to at least visit several audiophile shops.