the process is more challenging than the result

MrTennis, I agree that if one could tune/voice a system to their FULL satisfaction the quest would indeed be over.

What I find purplexing is that, once you've acheived this goal, you'd be no more inclined to enjoy this great system than to listen to a table radio.

hi mr_ man:

you have made my point. the purpose of voicing a stereo system to one's satisfaction is the enjoyment of the process of doing it, rather than listening to the result.

although i am not a hunter, the hunt may be more enjoyable than the eating. another example, is the chef who enjoys preparing food, but who has no interest in eating his creation.

its a matter of means and ends. in this case, themean is more interesting, than the end result. the process is achieving something, rather than reveling in the achievement.

one final example is in the area of sports. breaking the record is more satisfying than the award one receives for doing it.

i have maintained that you can just as easily enjoy music listening to a table radio as listening to an expensive stereo system. what can you do with a table radio , other than listen to it ? a stereo system is a collection of components wwhich can be manipulated to achieve a result.
the achieving is more important than the result.

The end result is more challenging than the process especially after I have had some really spicy food with very hot jalopenos the night before.

Being competitive, and trying to outdo yourself or other people is a trap. Clever advertising and peer pressure fuels it.
It's a fun hobby to play around with different sounds but when it leads to $10,000 per I/C, that's taking it too far IMHO.
You can search for the Holy Grail but most likely won't even recognize it even if it's staring you right in the face. Instead it's in to the next tweak.
True across the board improvements are hard to find. I find components like Sugden, McIntosh, or Tannoy comforting. Same basic design for 30+ years. Just goes to show real improvements don't happen that often and are usually a sum of many smaller improvements.
What really is happening with yearly "improvements" with most audiophile components is merely a new coloration to the sound. Prima Luna is a perfect example. Sound so colored it's new and exciting for a few months. Then the next generation comes along with a different coloration and an "upgrade' is born. Good path for the bored.
I had my fill of intentionally colored audiophile stuff when I bought a Vecteur integrated, which, like Naim, Creek, and other established audiophile brands does "something" to the sound. Long term satisfaction with that? I don't think so.
Then you've got the opposite like Halcro which, while I haven't heard it is my impression, of providing totally stripped sound. Another coloration and what i call the detail trap.
Doesn't take a lot of expertise to hear more detail, it's what most reviewers like to talk about and has little to do with the music (more like sound) IMHO. Carried too far, detail trap will render most songs unlistenable.
There are other, more important aspects of musical reproduction which are more important and will lead to more listening satisfaction across, and this is important, a larger array of music.

I love music and love the listening process. I have music on most of the time, i.e. at home, in my car, etc. That having been said, I am also a "gear head" and greatly enjoy the search process piecing together the best system possible (within my budget) to improve my listening enjoyment.

I think this process is true of most serious hobbyists. I have friends that play guitar (as do I) that are constantly buying and selling instruments in hopes of finding that "holy grail" guitar. I know guys that own $5k instruments that are very average players. I have friends that fish that are constantly upgrading their gear. I know guys with $1k fly rods. A $50 rod does the same job, just not as well. I know golfers that buy a new set of clubs every year or that have owned dozens of putters, and they justify it if knocks a couple of strokes off their score. In these examples, it doesn't mean that these people like playing guitar, fishing or golfing any more or less than anyone else, it just means that they like having top quality gear that will allow them to enjoy their hobby to the fullest and they have to means to do so. I see audiophilia the same way. Just because I enjoy buying and selling gear, one shouldn't assume that I have placed that process above the end goal, i.e. enjoying music.