Try boating if you want a foolish hobby. boating is a hole in the water you throw money into.. Over and over again. you never get back what you spent. you usually aren't able to do it everyday. it can be dangerous, and safety precautions are a must when doing it. Theres cleaning, maintenance and tweaking going on all the time.
you're always thinking of options for more power or speed or ease & comfort... Some new gizmo for it, trailer, GPS system, or just updating things to current standards, or considering chucking it all and going into a completely different scheme, such as power boating to sailboating, fresh water to offshore... cruising to jet boating... etc.
Hmmmmm. Maybe things are more similar than dissimilar between these two hobbies.
Or could it simply be the HOBBYIST, and not the HOBBY which appears foolish?
Life is a matter of perspectives... your's and everybody else's.
Whose perspective you live by, or can live with, happily, seems to me to be the ticket?
And yeah... $500+ for speaker cables? you're definitely slumming.... unless that was per driver. :-))
to appear foolish one only has to open one's own mouth when asked the price of their system, or it's parts when queried by the uninitiated.
The looks I used to get from friends when they ask and Id tell, how much this or that sold for were incredulous... and even I felt foolish sometimes. They were more commonly those looks one gives someone when they think that someone needs professional or psychiatric help, as they shook their head slowly while managing a regretful smile.
Now a days when asked I just say, "Oh I got that for about 40% off retail, or, I bought that second hand." and give no prices. The looks of astonishment have vanished and heads now nodding with approval have replaced them.
My fav thing is when friends first see the tube amps and ask, "So you collect/like antique electronics?" My answer (s) depend on my mood, but it's always accompanied by a smile and feeling foolish is no longer an issue.