Does upgrading you system have to be on a logarithmic curve?

I experienced only incremental changes for around twenty years building a number of systems. At one point I assumed this was how things would be far into future. Then things suddenly changed with the addition of some rather peripheral equipment, its like I passed this THRESHOLD of mere audio reproduction to performers in room sound quality. This happened perhaps three years ago, additions since then have only increased sensation of living breathing performers in room.

So, only incremental improvements for vast majority of time, passing this threshold has been of inestimable value. It goes beyond a logical analysis into realm of the emotional. A deeper connection to the music and performers has great, great value.

Depending what you believe your time is worth, investing in stereo equipment can seem like very little gain for lots of money.  ghdprentice may have $150 grand in his current system but how much was the total expenditure over the last 50 years?  How many hours at the going rate were spent analyzing comparing  and even  growing as a listener?   If you add up all the equipment you went through and the time spent to get to your current system isn't that really the cost?

To me the real  difference in just throwing money at the stuff the hi end shop tells you to buy and really understanding the relationship of how the components work together comes down to appreciation.  50 years of experience is beyond value.  To bad that experience can't be bottled and passed on to the newbies with only 20 years of experience.

@jjss49 

I have my K&E bamboo in my desk drawer… would you like to borrow it? I haven’t been using it much since 1974.

@danager

Some good points. I wonder what the total cost was… a lot more over my lifetime.

The wonderful hours of music, and the hours of research have been truly enjoyable to me. My first career was as a scientist, so I love really complex ambiguous problems. I love solving multifaceted ambiguous problems… like, I have my system that sounds like this, and I want to get the maximum sound quality improvement (of a certain kind) spending the least amount of money: all the vendors exaggerate, most of measured parameters mean nothing as far as sound quality, reviews are slanted towards a different set of values than mine… my budget is limited… etc.

Over the last twenty years I feel I really got my arms around the pursuit and my values in sound quality. Component choices have become very easy to make and have performed in themselves and in my system exactly as I thought they would. In fact, I have been able to order a number of items without actually hearing them, and have them perform in my system exactly as I anticipated (for instance th Sonus Faber Olympica III I purchased unheard 10 years ago). This is nearly as rewarding as listening to my system… which, even after making no major changes for a couple years, surprises and delights me on a daily basis.

The above made me want to help others where possible achieve what they desire in audio. Especially when starting off, when one bad judgement, misstep, or attributing a change to the wrong thing can send one down a dead end or just sour one’s belief in high end audio. You hear them chime in on many of the threads on the forum. Those that don’t believe in interconnects, or better sounding components, or science doesn’t prove it, so it is just BS, or it’s all just marketing or psychology… the path is littered with the disenfranchised.

It is a very complex and ambiguous path to get to audio nirvana… but for those of us that have been successful, it has been a tremendous accomplishment and joyful pursuit.

I look at it as something that grows with you. My first car was a well used ‘67 VW bug. I learned how to drive a stick on it and about car maintenance. My first stereo was a pair of mismatched mono amps and some speakers I built. I learned about electronics and how sound works ( well sort of ). I went on to building my next amps. Now just last year I bought my first integrated amp. 
If someone ever asked me about about how much I spent along the way I usually lied, so as not hear all the BS. Heck, I still do to certain people.😆