The funny thing about it is that it feels good to optimize a thing regardless of how important that things actual performance is. So you see all kinds of hobbies where people spend inordinate effort eking maximum performance out of shit that just doesn't matter:
* Audiophiles, as you note
* CPU overclocking
* Punkin chunkin
* Hypermiling
* Tether cars
(These hobbies always have names. I think it distinguishes the pursuit of optimization for its own sake from simply trying to improve a thing for functional reasons.)
The point isn't the performance, it's just the enjoyment of making a number go up. In many ways, the less useful the number is, the more enjoyable it is top optimize. Because when the performance doesn't actually matter, it means the stakes are lower, failure isn't harmful, and it feels more like play and less like work.
It's easy to criticize people for putting huge effort into improving things where the benefit is not at all commensurate with the effort. But the thing to realize is that the optimization isn't the justification for the effort. It's the joy of doing it in the first place.
