Sometimes, irony still gets delivered without accompanying smiling faces which makes it hard to detect.

As for the Audio stuff, i'm puzzled. I myself am an engineer by trade and kid myself to be not easily bull****ted in matters techncal, and for a long time i was among those who believed those expensive speaker cables were sucker baits.
Then a friend of mine who is a hardcore audiophile told me he *could* identify the difference in quality between an already not-so-cheap set of speaker cables and a very good one both in a blindtest at the shop and at home with his own set, so he bought them (and being a social worker, he has no money to throw away). I know him as a very rational guy. So i'm really looking forward to the test he offered me as a sceptic - haven't got around to it yet.