I ALWAYS made sure I wore ear plugs when going to see bands, being in bands, or going to clubs. My friends used to laugh at me. They now have serious tinnitus (one of them contributed to a national research study, and for a time his tinnitus was so bad he felt suicidal). 8 have occasional tinnitus but my hearing is generally ok.
With regards to high end hifi, I always used to popo it until I sat in a sound room in an appointment only hifi store in central London (while only waiting for a pair of speaker cables to be made up). The demo guy played me a £20,000 home hifi system. It blew me away. The soundstanging was insane.
That said, the performance of a system will always be limited to the room/environment in which it is used, and the audio literacy of the listener. As with all things, understanding and taste can be developed over years of listening, just like appreciation of good food, drink, and anything of high quality. High cost does not always equate to high quality either.
