I am now off the merry go round and after a period of depression I have finally come to terms with it. What I found out about myself was that the process upgrading and swapping out gear was a big part of what I enjoyed about this hobby. I was just as much in love with obtaining the SOTA gear as I was with listening to music. After doing this at a pretty crazy rate for 3 years, I have finally ended up getting all the gear I want. With the upgrade excitement gone, I stopped listening to my system for a few months. It is ironic that after putting together a system supposedly only for the sole purpose of listening to music, I was no longer interested. I found myself buying "audiophile" music that I did not necessarily enjoy but that would make my system sound best. Clearly, I had lost sight of what this whole hobby is all about and got caught up in the process.
Only recently have I gone back to listening and what I re-discovered was my love of music. Growing up, I never cared how much detail I heard, or how wide the soundstage was, or how accurate the timbre was. I just cared that the music touched something in my soul. I am at the point again where I would be happy with a cheap all in one stereo from Best Buy or Circuit City. It has even crossed my mind to sell everything and downgrade to something much cheaper. Dont get me wrong, I am glad I have the system I have but I dont intend on doing any major upgrades. I will probably add a power cord here or there and get an AC conditioner but thats it. So I can confidently say, I have been and will remain off the merry go round (famous last words of an audiophile).
