That is the point - none of us have bought our audio systems to be a status symbol. We have bought them to allow us to best enjoy music which is one of our pleasures. We may have spent a lot of money to achieve that situation, but we haven't done it solely to impress our friends, or anyone else who may visit our homes.

I still maintain that there are some very wealthy people out there who will buy an impressive and showy audio system, which may be "state of the art" and therefore expensive, simply as a status symbol. It is there to display the owner's wealth, not his interest in music. They are not audiophiles - unless that is they have a large music collection.

It is for those that Veblen goods are aimed.