WHY IS THERE SO MUCH HATE FOR THE HIGH END GEAR ON AUDIO GEAR?

riccitone, well said!

"At the weekly gathering of Royalty, there was a lively discussion as to why the Peasants speak ill of them..."

I'd offer that life is fair. By the time you are old enough to afford the high price gear, your hearing has usually degraded to the point that you can't enjoy it anyway. Or maybe that's unfair. I'll have to look at my wine glass and see if it's half full or half empty.

If it was earned through good, honest work and/or innovation rather then inheritance, I have never felt inclined to begrudge a wealthy person their prosperity. They were willing to work a lot harder than I ever cared to, so they deserve to reward themselves by spending it any way they choose. That being said, I also don't believe that the amount spent on gear qualifies one to  consider themselves more of an audiophile then us lower tier folks. That's like telling someone in an argument to scream louder because it makes them 'more right'. 

@mahgister i researched the hell out of every component speaker and sub in my system using the knowledge that I gained in this hobby over the years. For example my Gato speakers were designed by a former senior designer at gamut. I researched them to the hilt. Say that they were similar to a speaker twice the cost.  Realized he designed that speaker for another company as well I ordered it. 9 years later still my reference. My amps and Dac have design elements that have zero noise floor and implement design elements to provide power and limit distortion at every turn. I was the ear for the cabling that we use at the company. So even though the system is expensive I just didn’t pick stuff because it was expensive but it met the design and performance elements that I sought.  I have room challenges so it needed to perform in my conditions and it does that well.  It’s not about what you spend.  Design, performance, environments, personal tastes and equipment matching are all important.  Truth of the matter is some of the higher end equipment build quality and design lows it to achieve things sonically that most other equipment just can’t reach.  However you can still get pleasing sound out of a well put together system without spending a crazy amount of money.