For the most part, the people you are referring to are not audiophiles. Some people hate the concept of high end audio so much, they take time out of their lives to hate it. How do you debate someone like this? You can't. Its not a level playing field. When it comes to audio components, someone like you can be skeptical in a healthy way because you're just after the truth. Once you have it figured out, you take what you learned and apply it in any way it helps you.
The haters can't do that because they're not after the truth. They don't WANT the high end gear to make a difference. You can't compete with that and its why these debates never end. For them, its about emotions, not audio equipment.