Back In the Day

That's the problem - too many choices. At just about any price point, so many want to find the best they can. This is almost endless, of course, but understandable. And if you start playing with cables..
I also think that for many it all became a fashion, both equipment and music.

Amen, Frogman, amen. There is very little discussion of music and musicians on this site, for that matter. There is more on the asylum, but they have a dedicated forum for it. I have always wondered why there wasn't one here. Of course, even when there is discussion of such things, the choices of most audiophile's favorite performers or conductors are almost always based on which recordings sound better, rather than on the actual performance/interpretation. Sigh....

if you have achieved a sound from your stereo that pleases you why replace components ?

There are far more product categories to upgrade in now, so that's a big factor. Depending on how far back in the day you go, digital was not part of the system, nor were high-end cables, room treatments, outboard power supplies, vibration control, platforms, purpose-built racks, and so on. Then again, there were tuners.

Yes; I was in Chicago in the 60s and a bunch of us would read the Chicago Tribune Sunday ads when it came out Sat night for the latest listings. I changed equipment much more then as things were A LOT cheaper. A pair of Quad 57s were under $400 including sea freight from England. A Stax tone arm was $37.50 including air freight from Japan, and so on. One thing hasn't changed; the audiophiles I knew didn't use Mac then either. The ones with money used Marantz 9s or 8b or Citation 2 or 5. The ones with less money [me] used Dynaco Stereo 70 or Mk 3s or 4s. I went to solid state in the mid 60s and never went back. Cartridges were $50 or less when they weren't a penny extra when bought with a turntable.