Is advice from a constant upgrader to be avoided

these last few posts are a good discussion, perhaps a bit unnecessarily snippy, but the debate and clarification and sharpening of points back and forth are useful and enlightening to those readers who are following, if they have the patience to do so

i would remind folks that building a good sounding system requires achieving synergy up and down the chain, so sometimes, perhaps changing a source (say a dac) brings improvement in added treble clarity in an already warm-sounding system, but maybe it is a touch too far in that direction, so there is some sibilance as a result, so then one moves back from, say a solid state line stage back to a tubed one to deal with that...

maybe another improvement integrates subs in an otherwise very nice sounding standmount speaker based system, but then the user now hears with the great deep bass brought by the subs also a touch of midbass bloat, so then he/she chooses to go from the existing tube amp to a solid state one, to grip the main speakers a touch better and lean out the midbass bloat

if one is fastidious in their approach, gaining some aspect of improvement in a system may indeed also incur a penalty in another secondary aspect of the sound, so a next, knock-on move, is needed to try to keep the gain and minimize the penalty of the initial move

so it isn’t as simple as i’m selling this piece because i didn’t like it... it is much more nuanced if you know what you are doing

and it may not be that i didn’t like these speakers, maybe i found a pair that i like more, overall... this is typical if one likes a line of speakers, say harbeths, and you save for a year, move from compact 7’s to super 5’s, then you find the super 5 super tweet brings a little more sizzle than you expected on streamed music, so you go back in the chain to ameliorate that...

Remember, it's just a stereo. 

Hey arch2,

ebm has a spreadsheet where he gets bonus points for any response to his posts.

He does keep it short, however....hint, hint mahgester.

I'm an upgrader, but as a newbie I start at cheap or not knowing what in looking for so I buy something. Then I learn about what others like and what I'd like to move up to so I make the move. I'm glad I took the advice of others as my Musical Surroundings Nova III was most definitely out classed by my Manley Chinook. I'm now looking to move up again to a higher end Allnic phono. Sometimes the upgrading is a learning process as well as an experience to see what and how things are relatable or different and what you get. That's where I'm at at least and I'm having fun and that's what matters. 

There's a lot of good advice in this thread. Joining a local audio group and listening to many systems in real homes is among the best thing mentioned, if that's an option for you.

You can't assume that everyone who has owned many pieces is a flipper and discount their statements/opinions without more context. The financial limitations and other inputs (e.g. relocated from a big house to an apartment) result in many zigzigs even if "flipping to the latest" isn't part of the equation. System synergy is real, and as we moved towards more "rolls of the dice", more bad fits are inevitable. For some, buying used is a long home demo...not the worst idea.

Some of the best advice I've heard is to make an upgrade only if you're confident that it will be SIGNIFCANT. Often that comes at a high cost. So for most of us, that translates to infrequent, but bigger steps. 

There's really no wrong answer, but those of us who flip less do free up gray matter for musical discovery, awareness and joy. @reubent @tomic601 @big_greg and I spend more of our time on the Gon sharing musical suggestions, enthusiasm and learning in a thread that's been spinning at a steady 33.3 since 2004. IMHO, when your attention drifts similarly vs. "latest/greatest gear", you're on a good path. Cheers,

Spencer