Mega dollar systems. 200k on up. What are their professions?

@blueranger what is great about our hobby is that at its core it’s about facilitation and optimization of one’s discovery and enjoyment of music. You can be an audiophile IMO without spending a cent on gear if you are a frequent attender of live music. You can also have a good pair of headphones, a AQ Dragonfly, adaptor and Phone with a subscription to a good streaming service and be an audiophile. But you can also acquire a lot of gear, have a Roon lifetime subscription, have a dedicated listening space and be an audiophile. To take it even further, one could make an argument that you can be an audiophile by sitting in woods and listening carefully to the wind, leaves and the birds singing and appreciating the sound. Where it’s coming from and where you are in relation to it. There is something for anyone and everyone here *almost* regardless of budget. So I wouldn’t be concerned about some crazy expensive turntable. Do what you want and what you can afford. Discover and listen to the music that makes your life better. It’s about the music. Not as much about the gear. Sometimes we forget that.

Look it is a lot healthier for the individual and society at large to aspire to be successful as that other “successful” person. It does no one any good to resent someone for their success. It drags you down and is bad for society. We should all want to aspire to be better. When someone seems to achieve that goal and we try to tear them down, we are being counterproductive. Also even if someone seems to have a lot of capital they make be deficient in their lives in other ways in which you are wealthy. Plus there a lots and lots of worse ways to spend money than on audio gear. Audio gear to my knowledge never killed anyone or an animal. Also have you tried to be angry or were angry when listening to music? It is very hard to do. Plus spending money in the audio economy is a good thing for everyone, including us who are wealthy in ways that may or may not include dollars. 

@tomic601 I didn’t entirely miss the punk period. However, I wasn’t totally into a lot of punk either. But I was directing my comments from the point of view of the listener. My impression is that your comments pertained more from the point of view of the musician, which I do understand. 

@polkalover you are correct. But it is well known in this hobby that once your system gets to a certain level there are diminishing returns or another way to phrase it is that for those that want those extra bits of real or perceived improvement the costs of those improvements go up and the amount of those improvements become small. Some find that acceptable to “top off” their systems. Others will say it doesn’t make economic sense. But we aren’t in this hobby for economic sense.