Many seem to be talking about their last system .

Sort of a tangential thought, but I don't see much mention of the advances in streaming quality and how that might effect folks systems as they retire and their needs and/or budget change. Tidal has "master tape" quality streaming available for some of its music and rumor has it that Spotify will soon have higher-res streaming available.  You can't really downsize your speakers without losing quality, but one's music collection takes up a lot of space, so these new options make a lot of sense for those wishing to downsize and simplify.  

I'm retired and love CDs and vinyl although not exclusively, and if the streamer isn't working for some reason both of those will (except in power failures...until I get my used submarine nuke plant going). Always. Also it's important to have as much of the stuff you like as soon as possible in life as you could Buy the Farm any day from a number of causes. So the best way to be is wealthy with a lot of toys all over the place....just piles of stuff...simplify schmimplify!

@brayeagle is my new hero

my mentor in things orbital ( sadly passed ) was a lifelong learner
i called him one day seeking some help and was told at 94 he was on the bus to audit a local university electrical engineering class

tgis from a guy who has 5 or six essential to Apollo program patents and one of the first 50 people in NASA

inna good thread
mostly with ya
dont write off a generation 

I don't really, it is more of a warning, things are not going particularly well.

Lots of reasons we older philes are departing the train

After 40-50 years of trading, buying, selling, hoping, reaching, praying, searching - it gets a little tiresome, and the ‘grail’ has either been found or we’ve come to the realization that it’s such a moving target that the hunt is not nearly as much fun as it once was 

if you haven’t found the sound that suits you, you come to the realization that you won’t find it and have to conclude one of two realities:  the equipment is more important than the music and you will end up perpetually unsatisfied, or, preferably, the music IS more important and you rearrange your priorities - in my opinion it should truly be about the music, in the end, not ego, not glitz, or $$$, or prestige 

other reasons: as we age, hearing acuity diminishes, perhaps aesthetics become a bigger factor ( Sonus Faber anyone?!? ), guilt feelings engage spending cash for personal and selfish reasons and thoughts of cash requirements for kids, grandkids, charities, etc,  kick in; call it enlightenment, or a greater feeling of responsibility, whatever 

spending more doesn’t guarantee ‘improvement’, satisfaction, bliss, or happiness; I’m as addicted to the search as anyone, and the irony is I can now afford pretty much whatever I want, but I’ve come to a point where priorities have changed, know now that what I own is pretty dang good, and buying the ‘next best thing’ is not likely to enhance my appreciation for either the system, or more importantly the music