Downgrading

I agree with Onhwy61 and Nonoise. The more enthusiastic you become the more infantile mistakes you make. Your strive for better performance and sound builds your addiction and leads you to an unjustified expenses that are very similar to Gambling Compulsive Disorder and once you're there, it's hard to convince You, the victim.
I would certainly recommend to use term Rebudgeting instead of Downgrading.

Agree with Arh. I have been in this hobby since the 70's and the most important thing I have learned over the years is that higher price doesn't necessarily mean better sound.

Probably a smart move for many.

Musical enjoyment may often need not necessarily suffer.

Arh and Sidssp have it right. You can invest the savings into hard assets make profits and buy higher end things for the price of the old purchasing power their money once had. I sold an 07 Mustang Gt for 18K after driving it for 3 years (bought in 06 sold in 09) paid 26K for it. Got 18K back, bought 10oz of gold @ 9k, sold it 3 years later @ 18K so I drove my Mustang almost 3 years for free. I put the other 9K into my stereo and wish I would have invested all 18K into gold instead, but now I won't have to upgrade.

I believe as you become a seasoned audiophile you can do more with less you also know what sound you're after
In my case you go with used equipment and look at building a system which components have a good synergy