Unfortunately there is a lot of 'snobbery' out there - whether it be coffee, wine, cigars, speakers, etc.
I find it not only humourous, but a little pathetic & juvenile as well...TAM
I wonder how much is snobbery vs deafness vs ignorance vs bad experiences with a particular manufacturer.
Speaking for myself, for many years it was ignorance. I acquired Bose 601 Series IIIs for free as part of a package deal when I finished university in '88. For nearly two decades, those Boses were all I knew. The thought to check out other speakers didn't even occur to me. Even if it had, I was too pre-occupied with "life" to check out something different. The revelation came when I bought a cheap, plastic Sony bookshelf system for a different room. My eyes were opened; the Sonys sounded so much better! Even though the Sonys were utter crap, they were gold compared to the 601s.
The 601s are now with my buddy. He loves them! He can't tell the difference between the 601s and my M80s. Even though the 601s have bloated lows, a big hole in the mid-range and non-existent highs, he spends many hours each week getting lost in 80s music with them. Although he is very capable of dropping 100 grand on a pair of speakers without batting an eyelid, he loves the 601s and would never consider upgrading. One thing you should know about this buddy of mine is he's very deaf. Many years of competitive target shooting and hunting have taken their toll.
Then we also have folks who obviously feel "ripped off" or somehow slighted and will take every opportunity to exploit design decisions that, when evaluated individually, appear wrong. However, those same decisions, when evaluated in the context of system performance vs. cost, were prudent.
