@moonwatcher I agree you summed it up well. While the original problem by the OP didn't inspire me to get serious, the comments made it one of the most educational thread for me.
I think it's easier than ever to put together a horrible sounding system from a lot of money. It's also easy to buy a pair of cheap, active, wireless speakers and play music from your phone and get incredible sound. Technology can improve a lot, it's up to us how we adapt. Advances can make products cheaper, more accessible, easier to use, more accurate, longer-lasting, "faster", easier to integrate, etc. - if we are looking for sound quality improvement, it's on the list but just one of the many areas.
And I think there is truth companies trying to sell new releases for the sake of making money. Not in the audio business specifically but in the tech space in general. Saying that they are all honest is unfortunately way too optimistic. I have upgraded my phone 3 times in the last 10 years and I see so little improvement, I would be just as happy with my 2012 version as with the latest. But of course I don't spend 6 hours with my phone a day (only 4, haha!)