Are audiophiles still out of their minds?


I've been in this hobby for 30 years and owned many gears throughout the years, but never that many cables.  I know cables can make a difference in sound quality of your system, but never dramatic like changing speakers, amplifiers, or even more importantly room treatment. Yes, I've evaluated many vaunted cables at dealers and at home over the years, but never heard dramatic effect that I would plunk $5000 for a cable. The most I've ever spent was $2700 for pair of speaker cables, and I kinda regret it to this day.  So when I see cable manufacturers charging 5 figures for their latest and "greatest" speaker cables, PC, and ICs, I have to ask myself who buys this stuff. Why would you buy a $10k+ cable, when there are so many great speakers, amplifiers, DACs for that kind of money, or room treatment that would have greater effect on your systems sound?  May be I'm getting ornery with age, like the water boy says in Adam Sandler's movie.
dracule1
I’ve stated many times that I do not think ANY two things are exactly the same so I do not think "wire is wire", a fuse is a fuse, etc.

The debate is always about various paths people take to a good solution and cost is always a part of that discussion.

I don’t see a problem. We know that everyone will never agree on exactly the same solution and that everyone wants the best sound possible that they can afford.
the path is an interesting question, in part because there are hundreds of products available and thousands of potential combinations, so we all have to find a way to try what we can, knowing we can never try most products or combinations...
Mapman wrote,

"I don’t see a problem. We know that everyone will never agree on exactly the same solution and that everyone wants the best sound possible that they can afford."

Pretty sure audiophiles don't think too much about affordability.  Any more than a rat in a crack experiment. But it's pretty to think so.