You know that is interesting “…the cultural rush to buy.”
I think the internet has had a big influence on audio purchases. It is much easier to look at components more as commodities on line and then start looking for a good deal. I would think that might have a real limiting effect on the average experience of many folks.
In the old days you had to go to a store where you pretty quickly could realize different stuff sounded different. Kind of like red wine, the bottles look pretty much the same and have red liquid in them… but they don’t taste the same.