@tannoy56 I’ve probably cycled through a total of 200-300 components and speakers in total. Yes, much of the gear I did buy used and then resold, sometimes at a profit but at most times breaking even. Going this route, I was able to play with a wide spectrum of speaker and electronics designs, and many investments were usually fairly incremental since I sold my used gear for what I bought and put a little more on top (usually buying something else, then selling the gear I already had to recoup the funds). At one time I had three system setups around different speaker designs - three-way speakers with Legacy Aeris & Wilson Yvette, electrostats with Quad 2805, and high efficiency with Oris 200 horns. Each of those systems had very different electronics that I was constantly tweaking and upgrading, and those speakers were the final ones before I consolidated down to a single system with Borresen (e.g. I owned other electrostats and high-efficiency speakers, a number of 2- or 3-way designs, etc).
I’m also very lucky to have both family and friends that have gone through as much gear as I have, and we have been very generous to swap gear with one another. I empathize for many audiophiles that I have met over the years that do not have a local circle of audiophile friends (though they are largely influential in driving me to invest more). While it’s tough because many audiophiles are very elitist and closed-minded in what they think is “the best”, the best way to experience what audio truly has to offer is by being vulnerable and trusting with others.