Why are audiophiles perceived as being wackos?

Wow, what Marco said!

I always thought the secret audiophile handshake was a little off putting.

I think Cwlondon has nailed a big part of it - high end is marketed by audiophiles to audiophiles and not to the greater masses. Coupled with the fact that, aside from a college students dorm room or apartment, which also has stellar furniture such as milk crates and cement block and pine board bookshelves, audio equipment typically doesn't appear in normal home decor.

Most of the other "finer things" fit nicely in the home, garage or "lifestyle". Think about it, many people who drink fine wine do so because it is expensive and they can. In other words a "status" or "lifestyle" thing. Eventually, some may even come to appreciate it for what it is and stop buying just the most expensive stuff and start buying just the best stuff. Rolexes and BMW's are as much statements of "I've made it" as anything else. Even stamp collections laid out on a desk in the "library" are a fashion statement.

I live in one of the more affluent counties in the US and, when looking at real estate, seldom run into dedicated listening rooms or meaningful stereo equipment of any kind. Indeed, I was told by a realtor friend of mine that he advises people with large speakers and electronics out in the open to put them away when selling their house to make it more attractive to potential purchasers.

Contrast that to home theaters, however, and now you have something with the cachet of fine wine, boats, and other luxury items that fit attractively into a house, garage or marina. Even if unused, they are "status symbols" that are easily marketed to the affluent or anyone that aspires thereto. They even buy expensive/good equipment, even if they don't know the names, because they want the best.

Unfortunately, high end audio was never effectively marketed in a way that made it a must have in ones house in the 60's and 70's. For stereo, the "best" is often small and unobtrusive, which plays to Bose and not high quality sound reproduction. For home theater, the "best" is often big and ostentatious. Too bad nobody got it right 30 years ago.

one more example....if it wasn't for nora jones being classified as jazz, sales of this music catagory would be smaller than someone's paper route

here is something to think about. of all the hobbies mentioned in this thread, ours is the only one not growing. in fact, more music is listened to on pc's alone than all the audio systems(low,mid, or hi end) combined. any growth numbers are coming from home theatre. movies evidently ARE the new rock and roll