Audiophile demographics?

@linndrum888

 they know it's the music which is the thing, not the gear.

I've heard this said before and it never has made any sense to me. Of Course  the music is "the thing". But HOW do you get the music without the gear? You DON'T. So the gear is fundamental in hearing the music. So, by its very nature, the gear IS IMPORTANT! Why? Because you won't hear music without some type of gear. I've never heard music without something playing it. I've heard the cheap gear & the expensive gear. Guess which one sounds better. So NO, Its not a Dumb hobby. But it is a dumb statement, usually made by people who will not make the sacrifice of $$$ to buy the better equipment. Each of us has our own priorities. If it is not yours then that's fine. But you shouldn't come into this type forum with that type attitude and expect your unfounded statements to be accepted by someone who has made the sacrifices to obtain better sound. Its akin to going on a Porsche forum and telling them that your Escort is every bit as good as their overpriced Porsche.

@rcronk

Thanks. I'm just a tad younger but was an early Zeppelin fan from 69 when their 1st album came out. Same with Sabbath. These along with Iron Butterfly, Grand Funk, and other hard rock groups were staples of my music diet. My experience is that many men don't like metal,. much less, women. I found one woman who did out of all the people I've known. So it is unbelievable that the majority of women now like metal. I'll call BS on that. Now I'm sure the times are changing. And I'm glad to meet the female audiophiles and metal head bangers. But that doesn't change the fact that they are the exception, not the rule.
This is where stereotypes come in. They exist to make conversation easier, especially on subjective issues. They are general rules but not hard and fast. Of course there are exceptions. And there are nuances within the exceptions. But this is for academia, with pages of minutia not BB conversations. I suspect it is also generational wherein the younger have somehow learned that stereotypes are wrong instead of being exceptions. I've noticed my son often points out the exceptions as if they are the rule. IMO, the problem with this lack of exception and nuance is that it often leads to confusion and then division and is counterproductive. A'gon has been going down this path for a few yrs now which is why I and many don't post here as much as I did the earlier 20 yrs of being here. I suspect it has a large part to do with the total division of our country now too.
BTW, you made an interesting comment about listening. My own wife listens with me. She generally lays with one ear on the pillow and hearing with the other. She is satisfied. She says she is listening but I notice her asleep a lot. 

She bemoans the fact that I've made her into an audiophile in terms of assessing the sound quality instead of just listening to the music

Why can't she/you do both? This idea of just listening to the equipment is what many accuse audiophiles of doing. I think this is erroneous. I can and do listen to my computer system with great enjoyment. It certainly doesn't compete with the main system. But I can enjoy the music from both. Now, I DO have different expectations of both systems. I'd be terribly disappointed if my main system sounded no better than the computer system. But I listened to music on a far lesser system for many years and thoroughly enjoyed it. The disappointment would not be in the music but the fact that I spent so much for so little. 
BTW, My wife listens & enjoys music with me. She  also and has a pretty good ear. She is much more sensitive to high freq than I. But most women are.  Still, its not a priority to her.