Is it really the system?

Blindjim -- I enjoyed your audiophilic blank verse; the proper proportions of joy and frustration.
My feelings about our mutual obsession are similar to owning a beloved dog:
There is the constant feeding and the constant picking-up of poop. And the occasional visit to the Vet. But sometimes, just being in its presence makes you (or allows you to) smile. And sometimes spending a few minutes playing with it is enough to decompress your psyche and renew your spirit.

Religion,politics,baseball and audio related possibilities should be avoided at all costs until your face to face with rocket-launchers and machetes.Then,you can have an orderly,yet ambitious conversation on said topics.And usually a clear consensus after the service....YMMV,Bob

So long as my equipment has a potential for dying (before I do) then I really can't 'hang it up' but I sure can change my focus to truly more important things in my life. Music and some good beer!

Usblues, why would you ever want to shy away from uninformed discussions of religion, politics, basball and audio. If you always remain politically and socially correct how will you ever learn anything, especially about the 'value' of your own views if nothing else. Get out there, have some fun! :-)

Thanks Joe A, and thanks Newbie

odd, no one has picked a tag outright.

I've been all sorts of the ones I listed. I've been the "I'm buying stuff I don't need, with money I don't got, to impress folks I have not even met yet!"... To the considerate selective, know it all, which knows for sure this next do jiggy will be the deal.

both of those are ego driven, the former more so than the latter... but then no one really does know until you do the deal. There's the rub for me. At some point recently I asked me, How good is good enough? An honest assessment and answer changed my focus shourtly thereafter.

I'll hang the Enthusiast tag on myself now. I'm not nearly as picky as I was just a handful of years ago, and know less now than I did back then too. Money dictates Gear hounding is not on the thing to do list either. That was always a means to an end anyhow.

RE Goal
Mine was ambiguous enough. Put together the best sounding rig Iv'e ever had, that possesses all the sonic atrtributes I crave. For all intents and purposes I feel I'm near there now.

I thought here, to cast a scant light onto the nut behind the wheels' motivation and perspective (s).

If I don't pay attention, mine can stray and lose focus.

After 20 or so years, all of which started with a pair of ADS speakers and a Hafler kit for amp and pre, I am done.

I have not changed a thing since purchasing my speakers...and although I toy with the idea of moving up the product line of VA speakers, I still stay put. And since NuForce produced the V2 board, no need to look beyond my current amps.

I will say that being a "reviewer", I get to play with new and different stuff a lot which seem to quash and desire to move on....

It is really great when all you have to do is listen to music and not think of terms of "what is next"...

Good luck, jtb