If there’s an audiophile exit ramp, this ain’t it…

Enjoy the music. If it sounds bad* (you don’t enjoy music you normally enjoy) then change the music. 
 If everything sounds bad, invite some audiophile friends over, and assess the system- what might need to change? Your friends can help. Maybe they have some equipment you can try?
 It’s part of the hobby.  *search for a better recording-record, CD, etc. Shouldn’t cost too much money, but, it’s lots of fun.  Enjoy what you got. 

My off-ramp was to get off where I began! I am completely convinced that audio satisfaction is a state of mind, not material, each one of us holding a different set of qualifiers.

In my case, terminal satisfaction arose when I purchased (at age 68) the first good audio system I ever heard at age 16: original Quad II amps, ls3/5a speakers, passive controller. The story ended where it began. Obviously, my audio taste, both aurally and aesthetically was formed 52 years ago. I enjoy the look, sound, feel and machine-love of these components so much. In the intervening years I've owned modern, high end, new technology, more resolving, more transparent, more impressive 'everything', but it all led me back to the beginning. To be honest, with the right kind of self-reflection, I could have figured out what would be my best choices years ago. I didn't have the self-awareness. I, like so many, swapped components willfully, but somewhat blindly, ever reaching for I don't know what.

@sumaato,
My off-ramp was to get off where I began!
The story ended where it began.
Obviously, my audio taste, both aurally and aesthetically was formed 52 years ago



These are all comments that strike a resonance with me too.

One evening some 40 odd years ago I heard a record playing system blasting out of a window whilst I was playing outdoors.

It must have been set on repeat as I remember the same acoustic songs cinjng round again and again.
There was something so colourful about the tonality that it seemed to pierce into my mind.

With each passing decade I'm becoming increasingly convinced that my entire audio journey has been mainly about recapturing a similar sensation as experienced that evening.

Of course, like any seasoned audiophile, I like to tell myself that I'm primarily interested in good source materials/mastering, loudspeakers with good frequency/impulse response/bandwidth/spatial effects/ dispersion etc.

However, in the end it always comes back to timbre and tonality. The very two things that I fell in love with all those years ago.

Your post certainly made me reflect. I guess that at least for some of us it's not always easy to know just what it is that we are really looking for.

So thank you for sharing your story.

However, in the end it always comes back to timbre and tonality. The very two things that I fell in love with all those years ago.

@cd318 Yes, I agree and those fine qualities have been around in audio,  for a long time. I'm glad you resonated with my post. 

I've never been beholden or loyal to nostalgia or systems/components in my past. I also trust that my ears are still good enough and that my exposure to live unamplified instruments still happens often enough to keep my ears in reasonably proper tune. I'm also immensely happy with what my system currently delivers. Sure, it ain't live but it still still delivers enough to make listening to the system an eminently pleasurable experience.