Here at AR, (where I call myself an "audio enthusiast" anyway), it's not so bad, but in that other place I get no respect at all. Here are the main reasons.
  • I don't love vinyl. I don't think it is inherently the superior medium. I don't like the rice krispies. I think the big difference from CD is (or was in the past) recording method, and that the best CDs are as good or better than LPs. I don't cherish handling LPs: cleaning them before and after each playing; the tense moments lowering that $$ cartridge on the record, etc..
  • I don't love tubes. With good recordings, including RBCDs, decent quality solid state sounds better. I'm deeply suspicious that the "musicality", "soul", "depth", "harmonic texture", "wholeness", "continuity", etc., attributed to tubes are really artifacts of higher distortion.
  • I have no patience for tweaks. My experiments with the likes of power cords have been a wast of time and I certainly have inclination to spend a $1000 each on a set of them despite claims of "huge improvement" from some golden ears. I'm "close minded" about the possible benefit of jars of pebbles and the like.
  • I'm boggled at the price of very expensive components and doubt the incremental value of $5000+ amps, $10,000+ speakers, not to mention $100,000+ turntables.
  • But worst of all, I have a utilitarian attitude. That is, good enough is good enough. Tiny improvements and absolute perfection aren't essential to my enjoyment of the hobby.