Serious Addiction to Gear

Unless his relationship(s)are with Women, it shouldn't be a problem. If he's buying junk after you've steered towards the right path, it may bug you, but there's nothing you can do.
I have a friend who makes six figures+. He's single, has a large home and can do whatever, whenever with no consequences. He has top-flight IC's, but the speaker cables are the bottleneck(I've told him so and can do no more than that). He say's he doesn't have the money...puhleeze!

There are obsessive, compulsive behavioural disorders of varying degrees. Your friend could have this. I'm afraid it can't be diagnosed from an Audiogon post though. If you think he has a problem to the point you feel you need to ask about it, it should be investigated further.

I think there could be an entire psychological conference based on what I read in Audiogon.

I think it's an addiction. In fact, I just had a paranoid rush that my wife had posted this. Seriously tho, it really feels like an addiction when I allow myself to be self-aware about it. A few tricks that have helped me:

1. Buying a house, resulting in absolutely no extra cash.
2. Getting out and seeing live music more often.
3. Visiting a friend who has a crap system but an awesome collection and feeling humbled by his priorities.
4. I haven't tried this, but I've heard that having babies will help you kick.