Is your system amazing and you just dont see it?

I've been asking myself that same question. Likely because I doubt my ears critical listening evaluating abilities. I've got an excellent and revealing system but I just don't know exactly what to listen for.

And I don't know anyone who can give me an evaluation.

So I just have to have faith in my gut reaction.

Thoughtful thread.  I see, and here many of the same points made.  I lack reference and exposure to top systems due to location.  But damn it if my system doesn't fail to impress me at its modest level.  Gleaning what I can, especially from eavesdropping on so many Agon threads, it's come together nicely in a few years.  We are spoiled for choice and technology.

I like mahjister's comment about finding a new hobby.  I've found that while he may embark on a new hobbie for "peanuts" as he's wont to say, the rest of this crowd and I are hopelessly obsessive and they all end up costing $$$ Lol.  Just as my wife.

For many years,  I enjoyed my system very much.  I kept my components for years, and hardly ever change them.  Most of the time, I'd keep them until they break before buying new ones.

This all changed, however, after I upgraded my speakers last years.   Every since then, I've been buying new components, and always wondering what else I can do to improve the sound.   I need to get back to appreciating my system, and enjoying music for what it is, and not what it can be.   I'm partly blaming this on COVID-19, because I'm stuck at home everyday, and my system becomes an outlet for me.

This hobby can be very exhausting.  :-)

xcool...you are right with your last sentence 👍🏼.
The quest can go on and on if one doesn’t say „stop“ to oneself at a certain point. And the „problem“ is also that when you change one component it oftentimes pulls further new cables or other components behind. When the chain plays harmonically there is always a certain risk to change any link ... Enjoy the music that’s the main thing 😎

I've had the same power amp, pre-amp and speakers for decades. I've heard other equipment, some of it quite good, but not so good that I've been compelled to sell or trade up. Part of it has to do with age. When you enter your 70s as I have, new and/or "bigger and better" doesn't have the allure it once did. You appreciate more what you've got and discard the rest.