Here are the choices:
1. They work, and you believe the explanations for their effectiveness
2. They work, but you feel the explanations are hype, and unscientific
3. They don't work, and you feel cheated and scammed.
4. They don't work, without hearing them, because there's no rational reason
5 They work, it seems like voodoo, yet there's no denying your ears.
6. They work, you're sure they do, but are too embarrassed to admit it to others
7. They don't work, but you've allowed yourself the delusion that they do
I have a tweaker friend who has a system made up of a discontinued 50w solid state amp driving discontinued inefficient planar speakers, under $2,500 tube preamp, home-made speaker wires out of jeweler's silver wire, Shakti Stones and Holographs, Steins, Black bodies, Bybees, and other tweaks.
His system produces jaw-dropping real sound. None of the over $200,000 systems I heard at the NYC Audio Show could even touch this system. Some could go deeper, but that's it.
I belong to option 5. Hearing is believing.