Older And Wiser or just Tighter and Deafer?

Some here, and elsewhere, are assuming that we (the people) are being given (by media, etc) full and correct information, and with no addenda to do otherwise.

For me the big moves are in the past. For the past ten years (I’m now 65), I’ve shifted mostly to DIY audio in order to side-step upgraditus-- by way of modifications that improve and extend the life of already excellent commercial components that have been in my system since the mid-2000s. The major exception has been upgrades to CPU audio-- a technology that continues to advance rapidly. After thirty-some years of systems evolution, it should certainly be reasonable to be near an end-point. I attend a couple of audio shows each year to remind myself that my system is close enough to SOTA. The virus has added further perspective on consumerism.

When in my mid-40s and in an aggressive systems-building mode-- I recall a wise audio salesman describing the typical arc of many of his customers: constant equipment churn during the high income years between 40-50, followed by increasingly painful addictive purchases as income declines, followed by the big sell-off after penurious retirement or a postmortem fire sale by disinterested spouses or children.

At this point in life I am shifting to projects that more fully involve family. Two-up motorcycling with the wife. Working with my son-in-law on a Renegade Hybrids LS3 V-8 conversion to a mid-’80s Lotus Turbo Esprit. When that car is finished it will be a gift to him.

@vegasears .....+1 re the Lotus mention....👍....
...and the analogy....;)

To hell with all this stuff. That's how you do things. 
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52436658

As we prepare to sell our house and move I've been keeping my shredder busy lately.  I'm only keeping seven years of my tax returns and business receipts, as I was going thru my papers I had memories of all the good fortune I had, in my 21 years of having a very successful consulting business, I worked a lot during those times that so many others were not so fortunate, like the recession of the early 2000's, the "great recession", etc.  By the end of 2014 I was pretty much "fully spent", and found that I'd worked and billed out 2882 hours that year!

As a result, I enjoy an audio system that is way more than I ever dreamed of!

We are in the process of building a home in a wonderful neighborhood, and YES, it'll have a "bonus room" for my audio system.