I think as room size varies, so do the possibilities of equipment variation while achieving "full" optimization in the room. The possibilities are potentially endless and we then can argue the merits of particular boxes, wires and source type and material. There are people that doing this for a living.
I certainly have some equipment that has proved enduring but also have plenty of "classic" hi-fi that is dormant. (An ARC 75a that I bought new with a full complement of parts to update it), a pair of Decca Ribbon Tweeters that need attention, and plenty of tubes of differing eras. A few years ago, I put back into the vintage system a 1961 pair of Quad IIs (sympathetically restored/updated by Bill Thalmann with NIB GEC KT66 glass) that outperform what it ran in the seventies-- mainly ARC amps and preamps up to the Sp-10mkii. We all have our favorites, past and present.
Used equipment used to represent a bargain. Viewed from my vantage point, the market today is high for enduring pieces--unless it is something like a Craigslist thing, not through larger "audiophile" market channels. Bitching about price is something that seems common among audiophiles but it is a reality. Budget often imposes limitations in more than one area.
I think as long as a listener is informed-- and sometimes this can come from reactions of other experienced listeners to your room (that made you reflect and perhaps changed something largely by effort, not money), the balance---between the time spent mucking about the system and actually enjoying it- is a very personal one. There have certainly been times when I lived and breathed it, but like not seeing a forest for the trees, that can be a problem and can also create a level of anxiety/frustration which takes us back to the starting premise.
I certainly have some equipment that has proved enduring but also have plenty of "classic" hi-fi that is dormant. (An ARC 75a that I bought new with a full complement of parts to update it), a pair of Decca Ribbon Tweeters that need attention, and plenty of tubes of differing eras. A few years ago, I put back into the vintage system a 1961 pair of Quad IIs (sympathetically restored/updated by Bill Thalmann with NIB GEC KT66 glass) that outperform what it ran in the seventies-- mainly ARC amps and preamps up to the Sp-10mkii. We all have our favorites, past and present.
Used equipment used to represent a bargain. Viewed from my vantage point, the market today is high for enduring pieces--unless it is something like a Craigslist thing, not through larger "audiophile" market channels. Bitching about price is something that seems common among audiophiles but it is a reality. Budget often imposes limitations in more than one area.
I think as long as a listener is informed-- and sometimes this can come from reactions of other experienced listeners to your room (that made you reflect and perhaps changed something largely by effort, not money), the balance---between the time spent mucking about the system and actually enjoying it- is a very personal one. There have certainly been times when I lived and breathed it, but like not seeing a forest for the trees, that can be a problem and can also create a level of anxiety/frustration which takes us back to the starting premise.