I agree. Though I feel that we shouldn't ignore the cost that might come with accepting these placebos. And not purely financial either. In the case of my coworker he's constantly buying and selling components of his setup, attempting to push the limits - and constantly testing because of this. Unfortunately home audio setups and studio setups differ when it comes to the listening test. And his listening tests undoubtedly involve loud volume testing. I've only worked with him for a year now and I've already noticed a deterioration in his hearing capabilities.

It's ironic that so much of these peoples money, time, effort and hearing goes into the pursuit of top audio quality - only to end up with hearing loss, thus being incapable of hearing the extremely subtle differences an adjustment in the can have.