I once had a photo of my system as my work pc background
I was giving a presentation and my background was on the big screen,
My boss asked a few questions about the gear, then started googling, followed by him wondering aloud if he was paying me too muchš
Moral of the story, ānormal peopleā donāt get it!
Best,
-JP
I love this statement. Let me tell my wife why I am an addict, especially on cables lately.
I rarely express disagreement with you, but I will in this case.
IMO, āwastingā time and money might be a perceived outcome by some; but the purpose of the hobby (at least for me) is to enjoy the music. For the audiophiliacs among us (myself included) it is sometimes easy to get side-tracked by the bling.
Cheers.
[*And, I have no doubt that, for some, the enjoyment of the equipment can equal or exceed the enjoyment of the kit. I do enjoy the kit.]
None of us feel our hobby money and time is truly āwasted,ā but it reads well.
āDissipateā does not possess the same ring, although is more literally correct.
āSteep dissipationā has a nice ring to it.
Iād say if one can differentiate which components in his opinion justify cost less than others, heās already quite an insider 
Yes, always buying the latest sh*t is for sure the safest method to spend the most money. I guess someone like a Jim Smith can select and make a 50k setup outperform a 500k setup by far in most essential aspects. But for those who donāt understand or feel the pleasure of what music listening and good music reproduction means, 500$ are already wasted.
As a retiree who loves music, and with a little spare change saved, I am very happy to be an audiophile. I enjoy a little, and not so little, upgrades here and there overtime to bring my system to the next level.
I do not plan to bring money into my grave, and my wife is well taking care of. So, what better hobby to āwasteā time and money to have fun? I can only spend so much time on golf courses, and I will probably be playing less and less in future.
Watches are jewellery. You wear them to look nice in public and if you want to know the time you probably look at your phone.
Audio cables are designed to transmit power or data signals. In my system they are completely hidden, probably most other systems given the cable sockets are at the back of large bricks of electronics. They range from $10 to about $400.
$30,000 cables exist because there are people with sacks of money willing to buy them. It is not for me or anyone else to question their reasons for doing so. It they think they sound better, sexually arouse them or just make them smile, whatever it is, itās no one elseās concern.
The sexual mention makes me think if I chose the right cablingā¦.
I feel the opposite. A good hobby makes great use of time and money and improves oneās life.
Most of my Stealth Power Cables cost me between $5,500 and $8,000. One cost a lot more than that but I survived. I donāt recall ever paying MSRP for any Stealth Cable. And none cost me over $15k. Ever.
I donāt even know why MSRPās exist at allā¦.waitā¦itās that we at least pay 1/4th or 1/3rd.
Of course. To which enthusiasts dedicate their disposable time and income.
They exist so the seller can achieve a 50% markup.
And keeps me out of bars, pool halls and other places where I might find trouble. 
Iām going to paraphrase but the wire they use is almost built molecule by molecule and I expect they have a high percentage of in process problems that add to the cost of manufacturing. And the assembly of the finished product Iāll bet is āchallengingā to say the least.
The pursuit of āwhatās possibleā is very expensive to us mere mortals for sure.
Galen had an explanation that said there were better ācost no objectā ways to make high end cables but their target market and processes wouldnāt support such a piece.
Are they worth the asking price? If you buy and like then yes of course. I have a relative on my wifeās side who drives a Lambo to work every day in Toronto. Rain, sleet, snow or shine.
It is one of the all wheel drive pieces but most would cringe at the thought. For him itās just his car.
Dave from Zenwave told me he uses the best silver ribbon material for his PSR line of cables, and one PSR-11 power cord takes him more than a week to finish (interesting to know what is the secret souce in it). He said if he goes through dealers, maketing, and cosmatic the cords need to sell over $15k to make profit. He says the PSR-11 is to compete with Siltech Royal Crown double cord which sells over $15k. He thinks it is much better than AQ dragon in terms of material, design, and of course SQ.
Well, I have one so I can say it is the best cord I have. But I have never had Siltech cables so I can not say if it is in the same league.
My Stealth Octavia-T SPDIF cable arrived today. It came from Georgeās system so it isnāt brand new and hopefully wonāt cost anywhere near MSRP. It sounds nice. It goes between my Grimm MU1 and my BACCH-SP. It replaces my one and only non-Stealth cable.
After acquiring a V12, am I now a member of the 1%, maybe even 0.01% 
But its not about making a profit, from my point of view, its about making me happy. I am willing to pay because I can hear a nice difference (not because Iām snotty).
Itās the most important aspect of the hobby! If you are happy and enjoying the music itās hard to put a price limit on that!