Are audiophiles still out of their minds?


I've been in this hobby for 30 years and owned many gears throughout the years, but never that many cables.  I know cables can make a difference in sound quality of your system, but never dramatic like changing speakers, amplifiers, or even more importantly room treatment. Yes, I've evaluated many vaunted cables at dealers and at home over the years, but never heard dramatic effect that I would plunk $5000 for a cable. The most I've ever spent was $2700 for pair of speaker cables, and I kinda regret it to this day.  So when I see cable manufacturers charging 5 figures for their latest and "greatest" speaker cables, PC, and ICs, I have to ask myself who buys this stuff. Why would you buy a $10k+ cable, when there are so many great speakers, amplifiers, DACs for that kind of money, or room treatment that would have greater effect on your systems sound?  May be I'm getting ornery with age, like the water boy says in Adam Sandler's movie.
dracule1
I guess we're at least at our mid 30's or even 40's now. Whenever you have the money, just buy whatever that makes you happy. Life is really short to spend on grumbling why people do what they do. Before we need hearing aid, satisfy our ears with anything we 'think' best regardless of its cost.
Such decisions are based on individual value systems, free markets, and free will. An individual's failure to understand another's decision paradigm or share his resources doesn't justify criticism.

People have the money to spend or the markets wouldn't be there to serve the consumer. One man's dollar is another's $10,000.