Interesting article on audiophiles and audiophilia

Right. It's a tribal thing, even if at times it is a tribe of your own.

Neither. We simply have nothing better to do.

Smell and sound are more archaic than visual image. I know that some do translate music into colours and visual images, I don't as far as I know.

True audiophiles are creative artists - the process is more important than the result, the result is an unachievable final part of the process. In other words, process is the result.
As for the fetishism, everyone is that to a degree.