King of the Hill

Thanks,Nrchy. I have copied your post to hang on my amplifier and to read daily. It sounds like your opinion comes from pain and experience. There is ,however, no promise that pain and experience lead to contentment. My goal is to continue to be satisfied with high value gear from PSB, Marantz , and Kimber.
It's hard when one reads Audiogon every day.
jndean

I recently saw Natalie MacMasters (great concert by the way). She played at our rotary club that afternoon before the concert that evening (really cool). Someone asked her about her fiddle. She discussed it and her bow. Her bow costs $17k, and she said that in terms of bow prices that's not really that out rageous as she's played an $80k bow. Now most of us are probably shaking our head going--it's a piece of wood with some horse hair attached to it. She said that as you get better with something you need and can appreciate better equipment (yes she even used that word). I think that's true of just about anything. If you race cars, at some point you become better than the car, and it's performance no longer challenges what you are capable of. Same is true in our hobby. As you spend more time listening critically you can pick up more subtle nuances of what is right and wrong. You want to continue to pursue what sounds right.

yeah, but will nice clothes and a fast car make up for being a fat, disgusting slob?

My wife seems to think so although in my case, its a pleasingly plump, muddy, slob ;~)