I agree that some "audiophiles" are susceptible to ignorant beliefs, which they then zealously defend. I used to work with a guy who bought a CD player with a w

I agree that some "audiophiles" are susceptible to ignorant beliefs, which they then zealously defend. I used to work with a guy who bought a CD player with a weighted turntable for the CD to sit on, on the grounds that it increased the "stability" of the bitrate. I laughed at the time and I'm still laughing now but he just could or would not understand why such a setup was useless. He'd also claim computers simply could not produce good audio, for some ludicrous reason I can't remember. So I suppose that's the type of person you're talking about. But remember, the word "audiophile" simply means someone who loves sound, and in practise that means someone who cares about good sound and will expend money and effort to achieve it. I'd count myself in that category, and am annoyed at the misguided noisy minority who give us a bad reputation. There's plenty of well informed, intelligent audiophiles who know their shit, aren't susceptible to marketing hype, and just want a faithful reproduction of their treasured music. Unfortunately, there's also a certain type of person who needs "something to believe in" in life and so gets on board with this kind of pseudo-religion with about as much credibility as the healing vibrations of crystals. You'll find them at the high-end stereo shop buying $500 ethernet cables (the network packets are so much more vibrant!) or signing up for the Pono kickstarter.