This is my position as well.
Regarding young vs aged sheng (I can’t stand shou), I have never had the pleasure of trying a good aged sheng. I don’t even know what it’s supposed to taste like. I have, however, been blessed to have young sheng that I really enjoyed. Whether that young sheng was what experts would consider “the good stuff” I don’t know, since I don’t have the wallet size for a comparison.
@mbanu’s observation that people in the west tend toward the collector and gadgetry end is fairly accurate, but I would disagree as to why that is. Aged puerh is expensive. Young is not. Not many people have the funds to just buy aged puerh. And if you really love puerh, it’s worth it to age it yourself as it is more cost effective, plus you get to control the conditions yourself. It is an investment, not in money, but an investment towards your love of tea. Thus, the gadgets are necessary to get the results that you want (and in my case, a necessary evil lol).
Because of the fact that I mostly don’t have the patience to wait, or the funds to buy already aged stuff, I was about ready to give up on puerh as I found it too bitter, it hadn’t yet developed enough of the the huigan it should have to make it enjoyable, echoes were there, but they were overshadowed by the bitter. Plus I’m sensitive to bitter so that didn’t help any. Anyway, then I ended up getting one of the Mumyoi teapots from Hojo that has a fabulous effect of increasing the sweetness of a tea. Now my young sheng has a lovely balance and I can drink it young! Happy day!