WHY DO SOME AUDIOPHILES THINK YOU ARE BRAGGING WHEN YOU ARE SHARING?

If you’ve got it, flaunt it. Just don’t pretend you know something special because of it. Make sense? 😳 Oft Times when you see some dude driving along in his new Ferrari it might not be prudent to assume he knows anything about cars. If fact he probably doesn’t.

Happened to me. I had traded in a VPI Prime for the new Technics SL1200G Turntable and listed the reasons for doing so. All I wanted to do was share my joy with the community. Instead, others who never even heard the new turntable were telling me I should wrap the arm and do a bunch of other tweaks.

When I said I wasn’t interested in tweaking it because my wife and I loved it as is, I was told I am not an audiophile because I care about the equipment more than the music. The person went further to say if I didn’t want to modify it, then I was simply bragging about the turntable and shouldn’t have posted. This episode has left me with a very bad taste in my mouth.

Another example was was when I purchased GE Triton One speakers. The first comment was “its good for home theater but not music.”  Of course the person had never heard them. Then another person remarked “cheap Chinese junk”. People here can be very hateful.

@n80--Pretty astute observation: "Hi-Fi thrives on dissatisfaction."
So too, with the churn of any product. Don't have the latest iPhone? Fashion loser. 
Thankfully, good hi-fi doesn't necessarily depend on "features" though the improvements claimed with each successive model can put those chasing the dragon into nervosa--
Be interesting to consider a list of the improved products that were not improvements. 
I bought an ARC SP-10mkii back in the day when they were cast off in favor of the then latest SP 11. I really liked that SP-10, despite the noise and the tube chew. I guess idler drive TT folks might say the same when belt drive and DD took over. 
 New Ferraris-- don't get me started, you can't even get a stick anymore. 
The 512 BB was never brought into the US officially-- all gray market-- and many considered it a step down from the previous, old school Daytona. 
Bragging? Really depends on context doesn't it? 

But it is interesting and a bit troubling that those who claim to be audiophiles, sometimes comment negatively on other’s component choices when they themselves have no experience with them or have never even listened to them. The ever increasing lack of accountability in our times is a problem, and it is enabled by online and faceless social media. It would be a very different world if government leaders were required to do their jobs in their underwear.

Stereo5: I hear you. I too have been criticized for owning, and ENJOYING, products by Manley Labs, EAR and Thiel. And, not ONCE did the critic have first hand experience with these manufacturers or their fine products. Yeah, there's First Amendment rights, but there's also helpfulness, compassion and common courtesy, which is becoming, unfortunately, increasingly uncommon.

You have no right to enjoy anything without the tacit approval of other people...that's simply rude. It's OK to own all the aforementioned stuff, just try to temper your enjoyment until everybody agrees that your gear heap is praise worthy.