Audio Lessons Learned - post your best advice for the newer members!

DIY. IF Carter can make his own furniture, then why not learn from his inspiration?

Ignore the advice of audiophiles who took almost 50 years to make the right decisions.

Excellent thread and lots of great advice so far.

I'm pretty new to this , I've had music systems for years but to actually get into getting great sound and being an audiophile it's only been the last 2 to 3 years, but forums like this (If you can save through the nay sayers and those with something to promote) can serve you very well. 

Do your research, swapping out good components will burn your cash. It's not just about components the details really matter and you should budget for that if you want a great sounding system.

What are the details? these 3 top 2  most important for most people but it will depend on your system and home.

In room response of your system, so speaker set up including the right speakers for your room, room treatments or effective use of home furnishings and Digital sound processing. DSP works for me , I don't have a dedicated listening room so high WAF and room utility.

Power management , including ground. This is a very localised issue to you but is critical to some homes. If you are in your home for the long term well worth the effort of infrastructure investment. 

Resonance and vibration control,  this can make a surprising difference once you have the other stuff sorted so that your system can resolve these effects. I think decoupling is superior method and this applies to solid state digital as well as valves and turntables. There are lots of well engineered pieces at very high prices but some good stuff too on the cheaper side and lots of scope to DIY cheaper options.

Don't put too much faith in measurements,   they can be useful but are only a guide and many things we can hear are not able to be measured. Digital streaming playback is  not just a case of sending 1s and zeros (although many many network and computer guys will call you insane for stating such).

Compressed music formats such as MP3, YouTube and  spotify can sound fantastic if you get your digital system right (hi rez is then the cherry on the top). 

If you can get a subwoofer or subwoofers, getting that last octave or 2 really makes a massive difference but integration is critical. 

1. Learn to listen: compare different recordings of the same music, easiest done on classical music. Watch out for phrasing, room echo, dynamics etc.

2. Listen to learn: change speaker positioning gradually using the same piece of music. Change positioning of isolation feet under equipment (near the power supply, under output transformers, etc.)
Gradually change VTA and azimuth on your cartridge. Change tonearm cable (most important) as well as other interconnects as well as speaker cables. On digital try galvanic isolators for ethernet as well as USB.

3. Enjoy the music. Don‘t overdo the tuning

Remember that the unceasing quest for better sound is just an expensive manifestation of Schopenhauer's observation that "Life swings like a pendulum backward and forward between pain and boredom."

We're striving creatures -- we seek to address a lack with a fix. If the fix works, we're bored and start striving again. If the fix doesn't work, we're frustrated and keep seeking. That's the pendulum. The only solution is the temporary escape of aesthetic bliss ("enjoy the music.") Can you stay in the music forever and stop the striving? Very hard to do for creatures built to strive!