We can get a little snobby when it comes to hi-fi. Whether it's a decades-long hobby or you're working in the industry, the knowledge that certain products, technologies, materials or designs can offer better sound performance than others can often turn this into a rather tired game of recommending (often expensive and cumbersome) 'x' product over 'y' product for pure fidelity, and snubbing our nose at anything that can seem quirky or offbeat or not 'proper hi-fi', or at anything that dares to prioritise anything other than reproducing the purest sound quality.
Even as someone who doesn't mind yet another plain black box as long as the sound it delivers makes it worth it, I can sometimes feel like a spark of fun and creativity is missing from the experience. Many products these days are competent, well-made and sound decent, and that's all fine.
