Well i guess i'd be one of the audiophiles even though i dont freak out over cables & all that other jazz & i am not rich but i have alot of expensive equipment & a pretty good size collection of expensive vintage equipment.
Three things i have always refused to do was to buy anything at MSRP,weather it be hifi gear,cars,homes,tv's ect i refuse to buy anything that isnt a smoking deal where i am assured to get all my money back plus a profit should i decide to sell,sometimes it takes quite a bit longer to get what you want or need buying this way but you save a ton of cash being patient.
The 2nd thing i refuse to do is to buy anything expensive brand new,cars,motorcycles,hifi gear,speakers ect,i buy all used items where the seller took a huge loss & is now in a rush to have the latest & greatest whatever,then i step in with cash & take advantage of the sellers rush to sell what they have now in order to go finance something new.
The third thing is that i flat out refuse to buy anything over a few hundred dollars that will become valueless within a few years,its better to spend 3 or 4times as much & buy something of better quality with proven resale value like harley davidson's for motorcycles,Mcintosh for electronics.
So to answer your question as to how i get all my expensive gear,im patient & i wait & take advantage of other peoples greed,stupidity & their rush to have this years model whatever.