“Civilian” reaction to your gear?

My two channel system is in a listening room upstairs and guests usually don’t see it.  Our living room has a mid-Fi surround system , used primarily for video ( front speakers are bookshelf sized) that is largely out of site.  The rear speakers are in walls and the system resides in a built in wall unit with doors concealing the equipment rack.  However when the doors to built in are open, revealing the AVR, DVR, streamer, Apple TV, Oppo 205,   and Panamax surge protector, it inspires comments about what a sophisticated system I have and how expensive it must be.  Since the tenor of these comments are disapproving I try not to mention the two channel system up stairs.

A work colleague who was an active live performance attendee but a Bluetooth speaker listener came over to pick me up to go on a work trip. The HiFi demo lasted 2 hours as he kept asking to hear tracks.

My system is in my den which is tucked away in the back of the house sort of hidden away. Out of sight-out of mind. I like it that way. I don’t invite people in unless they show some genuine curiosity which has only happened on a few rare occasions in the last 3 decades. I enjoy a good dose of solitude with my “hobby”.

Earlier this week, I had a couple of dedicated circuits installed for my system. The two guys that did the work were young-around 30 maybe, and said they had never seen anything like my system, So, after the installation I invited them to listen to some music and they seemed truly amazed-neither had ever heard a real audio system-both said they have a bluetooth speaker or listen to the radio. I like my system but the point is not that my system is all that great, there are plenty better, its that younger folks don't have any exposure to  real audio systems and have no idea what is possible. In my day (long passed) there were audio stores everywhere and young guys like me were welcome to wander in and listen even though we had no money-the hook was set. I don't know how younger folks in large numbers would ever be exposed to what we do these days and I think that's a real challenge for the industry.

I don’t turn on my system if I know they are just curious? They won’t appreciate it anyway, especially if they ask the price.If they insist maybe?