Audiophile snobs

My friend John referred to Audiophile Snobs who place more importance on sound quality than musical content. The discussion revolved around Spotify, the online service offering a premium "high bit rate" upgrade. What Spotify's premium offering supplies is a lossy encoded 320 kbps (kilobits per second). CD quality is 1440 kbps; half that number if lossless compressed. John's point was simple. 99% of the music buying public is thrilled with the sound quality Spotify offers. They're enjoying the content and are either oblivious to the sound quality or find it acceptable. The subject comes to mind now that I have finally put a sound system in my office. After we renovated with new carpet and paint, most of us have taken a fresh look at our offices. I took the opportunity to rearrange entirely. Where once my desk took 50% of the space, and the balance dedicated to a small sitting area with piles of accumulated crap, 70% is now sitting area and speakers. And not just any speakers. I have placed the Infinity IRS Betas, a pair of BHK stereo 250s, DirectStream and a Bridge connected to JRiver. Hardly a system 99% of the music consuming public would have. And now I am fully qualified as an Audiophile snob. Where once my lower resolution desktop system tolerated just about anything thrown at it, my new HiFi setup magnifies both the good and the bad. A true double edged sword for us Audiophile snobs.