personally it turns me off from subscribing to someone when they hide the count, either they are hiding because they sub4sub, or they are ashamed of their subscriber number.
please don't feel it brings your channel down, if anything its uplifting to watch a fantastic video, and then find out the channel is so small! Like finding a gem amongst the rubble. Also you can be proud to say you were subbed since under 1k, if they ever do make it big.