How serious are you?

Instead of how much someone has spent on gear, I base how serious a fellow audiophile is based on:

Dedicated room?

Dedicated line?

Meticulous setup?

Sit motionless in the sweet spot, with eyes closed?

No distractions, nothing but listening.

For me, that defines serious.

Just my 2c.

I'm an 8 in that I won't spend multi thousands on gear. I want excellent sound and  build speaker kits. You will now see ads for the 521 Linkwitz speakers. They are remarkable. You can build them inexpensively. To save time and $, just build the top section and use someone elses subwoofer kits. I did build the recommended woofer sections ($1200 just for the drivers). But they overpowered the room. I built the Linkwitz XLminis and the older Pluto models as well. Highly recommenced. Use a miniDSP two into four stereo crossovers (Madisound) and eight channels of amps - one per driver. Starke 4 cHannel power amps make it easy and economical. I have seven of them in multiple systems. Now, the have an eight channel amp, I'll get one in the fall) ideal for the XL521 (the name comes from the date Dr. Linkwitz found the perfect shape for the baffle holding the mid - tweet - super bidirectional tweeters - May 21). Happy Listening!

Easily an 8 +

room. Check

dedicated line (4) check

meticulous set up.  Check

sweet spot in the dark…all equipment dark or masked…check

No distractions..HVAC off…check

Serious.

https://i.imgur.com/Wcn89T8.png
 

I dunno. 6/5? 7? Meh, it's not worth arguing about. I don't care. Enjoy!

Last few years I was a 9-10 as I digested much info as I can find, demo what I could, to purchase my first high-end analog + digital chains.
8+ today but interest is tapering off - only have Ethernet components, digital cabling, Roon core, then I’m done…for now. I usually peruse reviews and forums regularly.