More people get cars and really understand them. It’s easy to experience how well it accelerates, corners, etc. A lot of things about a car are easier to quantify (0 to 60 in xx sec) ... It leaves less room for snake oil ... it’s still there just not as blatant.
I think audio is much harder to understand. It not obvious to the average buyer what to even listen for (How many go into a store with test tracks of music in hand). It’s much harder to quantify and a lot of what is quantifiable takes some in depth understanding. How many of your friends understand what dB is and what it means to be 3,6, or 10db down. Even something as quantifiable as power is complex. A 200 watt receiver is what? Most assume 200 per channel all channel driven but that’s never the case (unless its stated)... There is a reason the snake oil is rampant.
