I'm brand new here, so sticking my head out from around the corner on this may be a bit dangerous, but I live for danger.
I think if one perceives negativity from some folks re: this "hobby," especially younger people, the reasons may be the same as those at play now societally.
We are boomers. Everyone hates boomers, bcs everything that sucks "is our fault." We're all male, (one forum I was on had one woman), we're probably all white, we almost have to (Itals are less offensive than caps---don't be keyboard-finger-lazy.) live in $ingle-family, detached hou$ing, and we have way more discretionary income than most, and probably have had it for a long time.
Discussing any "toy" that costs thousands of dollars, seems bougie in a time when a 1950's, modest ranch is $925k and an apple costs $3. To the majority of the population, if you can't eat it, live under it, wear it, or drive it, it's completely a luxury.
We're self-indulgent (which is de rigueur w/Millennials, so I really don't understand that one). We want the best "anything" available and usually get it, and we whine a lot, or so others may think. (No, they're right, we do. "Whaaa, my brand new $12K ________ won't _________.")
Finally, there's the unrelatability of the very things that interest us. What's really a head-scratcher, is that ya gotta know what a forum like this is for, and to whom it appeals, to even visit.
Words like, "high-end" and "audiophile," are automatically elitist to most people. That's a very bad word these days. It's a little difficult for those of us who came from nothing and aspired to become "elitist." However, that, for most of us, was a matter of striving for academic and professional achievement, not a desire to be wealthy or exclusionary. That would be silly, because I've always known I'm better than the plebes who surround me.
Of course, I'm kidding. It only chaps me when the neighbors' poor relatives park their American jalopies.in front of our property and block the passersby views of our luxo landscaping.
