Interesting thought

I don't think this is such a bad idea, but it needs to start with the bar-owners and bartenders.  They are the ones who have to listen to what their system is spewing every night, and if they think a better system matters, they are more likely to influence customers that it's worth it to keep the better product in the bar.  Maybe have a contest to see who can tell the diff between system A and system B?  Nah, good luck with that...

I did not mean to diss the waitresses (or waiters); they are definitely in the category of "influiencers".

#OnlyFans of listening bars in Asia and LA / NY

I do not think it would get much traction in bars of, for example, U.S.A. Maybe caffes would be a better choice. There are places called "bars" in their localities around the world where the atmosphere may be a little different from what I have seen in the U.S.A. I have been to such a place named Vinyl and one named Hi-Fi or something along those lines. (I am almost, but not entirely, certain about that name). Both focused on serving drinks and whatever else in a heavily audio-themed environment. I doubt any patron went to the store, literally accross the street, and bought new equipment.

I used to go to a place, neither of those two mentioned above, where owner installed very decent system. Higher level Bowers and Wilkins speakers in all the rooms, whatever was "finer than what you expect in a caffe/bar" electronics, etc. He told me he spent so much time at work that he did it for himself so he could listen to finer sounds. Not for the crowd. Once the place filled up, you could not hear yourself thinking, much less nuances of mids or bass.

@millercarbon when it comes up, I tell the partner in the conversation that being an audiophile doesn’t have to cost a lot of money and if you want, you don’t need any equipment. If all you want to do is go to live shows and listen carefully and appreciate the music you are an audiophile in my book. But if you want to listen to Tidal or Qobuz red book with good but inexpensive chifi IEMs, and a AQ dragonfly on your iPhone and appreciate music and music discovery, then that person is also an audiophile. Of course, if your budget allows and you want a wiz bang system for the purpose of optimizing the reproduction of your music to the best of your abilities and wallet and enjoy music discovery and appreciation, then that person is also an audiophile. There are as we know, many variations around the above and in between. Heck, one might argue that sitting outside and carefully listening to the birds sing is something an audiophile would do.
@chicagoblue1977 and @schmitty1 I am in Chicagoland too. 😀