In all fairness, it's not just snobbery involved, all the time. It's fun to make fun of high priced gear here in the land of excellent sound at budget prices, but remember, it's not always about the sound all the time. Off the top of my head:

• Appearance, feel, prestige, heritage, all count for something at some point.
• Ease of use, flexibility, programability, ability to integrate with home automation systems
• Brand loyalties

Those are ALL valid reasons to "pay more" IMO. Heck, just good old fashioned "I like this one better" should be plenty. Where it starts to go wrong is when the guy who buys on preference tries to validate the purchase based on something else. That often results in grasping at straws, honkiness and flabbiness. *snicker*