How competitive are you with your system?

In those sort of crazy car stereo competitions, there was a criteria and a fixed goal--how loud can you get your system to play.  But, unless you have that same criteria for your home audio, I don't see it as a competition is there is no way to establish a "winner."  The only bragging rights would be for "how much was spent" which is at least objective, but does not say much else about the sound.  I am definitely NOT into even that sort of competition--few people have seen my system and I certainly DON'T want anyone to know how much it costs; most people would think it mad.  

I could more think more deeply about my competitive nature and how it relates to audio, but I am not one to duel others by recording system playback to phones and uploading those recordings to YouTube. 

IMO, I was not in competition, but rather trying to learn what is this high end audio really mean to me, just me. All this just started during covid lock down. How does a certain bracket of $$ affect the sound. As i journey to this hobby, i heard what replacing a component (from amps to source to cables) do. After getting what i can afford and attending recent Audio Shows, making changes, I feel/think (based on my wallet :) ) i have reached a level wherein I am happy now. 

Another thing that was on side was I was able to travel outside the US and purchased gear from other countries and took it back home. 

I know that in this hobby, everyone has their opinion and believe that we all have what got to make our system the best. And, I truly respect that because we all hear music differently. so no competition..

"The only bragging rights would be for "how much was spent" which is at least objective, but does not say much else about the sound."

That would depend on your crowd.  Those at AK typically take the opposite approach..., i.e., "how little was spent for the results obtained".

Unfortunately, it is impossible to accurately portray all aspects of the "results obtained" over the net and this requires attendance at the venue.

BUT, a good YouTube video can go a long way, and while you’ll never portray all the nuance, you will hear anomalies in the response and get a good idea of what the system is capable of, and you will know if it is garbage.  Of course this assumes that you have a fairly neutral playback system on which to hear the videos or listen over good headphones and the video was well done.

@mwinkc I only know people with the best ears. They come listen and they won't leave. I can't get them out. They will tell you. :)