for your analogy of fat people doing gym, just imagine they eat he same and not going gym at all... aren't going gym 3 times a week improve their condition a little... in your point of view they seems like prioritize health more since going gym three times but maybe in actual fact they love eating and know by doing a little workout can compensate for the unhealthy diet...

and for smokers, just imagine a small room with 10 smokers smoking at the same time... they definitely inhale more 2nd hand smoke than someone who smoke in an open air park...

what i am trying to say is there are people who do things to compensate the negative around them... for ICE case, they use to negate or reduced the negative feelings from noise pollution they feel on the road...

i am a person who willing to spend on ICE and thus far i did not regret spending every single cent on it... i feel less stress when stuck in a traffic with ICE installed rather than before this nothing to do during a traffic jam and get frustrated easily by it... and we do carpool to work and my colleague does notice the diff every time i make a modification or upgrade on my ICE... so he happy, i happy, everyone happy...

another thing is a more expensive ICE uses better materials than XYZ companies... thus it is more durable... i used to use cheap brands ICE and the speakers crack easily, wiring loosen and etc... it last me bout 1-2 years then can notice crack sound... its not that i blast songs like crazy but sometimes bad quality or low bitrate audios is just not good for ICE... just try playing MIDI files as often as you can and see what does it do to your speakers