In my mind those audiophiles raised the price of gear, because audiophile companies could leach a lot of money from them.
Why would companies work in good quality accessible gear when they could sell it for a higher price to audiophiles who believed in pseudo science and less honest company owners.

Looking back I know better, companies will always have a target demographic and sincerely I really don’t give a fuck were people want to spend their money. I just don’t really care about that anymore.

I still hold science in very high regard if it’s pier reviewed and done without lobbies behind it, which these days is increasingly harder to come by.
Most tech companies have defined goals, which is to reach out to clients and sell products or services to them, even if they must shove a high resolution audio sticker on your forehead so you can feel assured you’ll hear those 30Khz just like the cat of your neighbor does. But if that makes some audiophiles happy, who am I do bash them, plus I also like stickers.

Remember the audiophile SD card Sony made? Even big companies like Sony want to capitalize on bullshit, if it helps them reach their end goal, also known as making money from the consumer.

I’m a firm believer you can have good audio for a fair price, but unlike the old days I think summit audio is a necessary evil because such technology will sooner or later reach the mainstream masses.

I learned to respect everyone in the hobby, by doing so, I became a happier member of the community.
So in the last half a decade I went from a very objective hobbyist to someone who just wants to hear some music and have peace of mind.
Sure I will still call out some bullshit when I see it, but for most part I just want to hear my music.