So I'm not sure audiophiles as a class can look down their noses at
people who buy equipment based on marketing and reputation.


Ohhh, yes we can! That's because we audiophiles buy crap based on
marketing and reputation *in specialized boutiques* which cater to some
kind of elite "connoiseur", while the average consumer admits to not
being any kind of a connoiseur, and buys crap that's "good enough for
them" (based on marketing and reputation) at non-boutique stores. Don't
you understand the sociological mechanism of snobbery? What kind of
audiophile are you, anyway?

On the other hand, legend has it that it used to be the case (though now
with poorly engineered "high-end" CD players and other assorted gaffes,
it isn't anymore) that the worst crud in a high-end boutique sounded
better and just generally was better than the best item at a general
electronics shop. This was certainly always true of turntables, for
instance. Back in the eighties, Radio Shack employees (anybody remember
the "Realistic" brand?) thought that "Thorens" were things you had to
watch out for while smelling the roses. And Thorens isn't even all that
high-end.

Nowadays, we are seeing the sort of vestiges of this history, where
high-end boutiques sell CD players like they were 10 times better than
"Kenwood" or whatnot, when realistically they are not much better, and
are sometimes worse in fact.


-Sean