It’s all a matter of degree

I can long periods with no changes in my system.  Sometimes a component fails and I need an alternative for a period of time. Then the merry-go-round starts and I read everything that I can to make a considered choice. I typically buy quality used gear to stretch my $.

sometimes a "wishlist" component shows up and I buy it to try it out. Over time, I end up changing just about everything but my speakers (too large and heavy to bother with changing out.)

@mahgister 

A method is not a sum of "tweaks"....

Very succinct and spot on! Some here espouse adding a tweak to get to level 1, and then continually piling on tweak upon tweak to elevate your system even further. A more holistic approach makes infinitely more sense to me. 

All of the above...depends on which way the wind blows

I may not be in this camp that much longer as I have increasing hearing loss. So for me, the goal keeps moving for the last 5 years. I listened tonight and shook my head. No magic. I have gone so far as to have a parametric eq on the way. Last ditch effort. It isn't tweaking as I would normally do, but just to stay in the game a bit longer.

 In the past, I have tried all kinds of equipment, music, etc. I will never regret it, that's for sure.

 Photography. Yah, maybe that will be the new inspiration for the future.

After 40 years of building audio systems I have decided to build my music catalogue. My latest tweak is to always play great music that is recorded exceptionally well. Expanding my musical tastes was all it took.