I feel sorry for audiophiles because they have to work so much harder to get the same enjoyment of music that I get via my laptop speakers

That's just the other extreme, which is not that much less silly. It's not unreasonable to spend 300$ on a good pair of headphones.

The "audiophile" attitude is such that that "work" is enjoyment. It's a game, a hobby. I'm not defending the extremes of it, but it's not like these people are miserable, they enjoy doing it even if it rapidly becomes completely insane nonsense entirely detached from reality.

I've never thought it that way, thanks for mentioning it.

I now wonder if I have any such hobbies. Probably not to the same extend as audiophiles, but some software-related stuff could come close.