When did you put the most effort in setting up your audio system?

@newbee what took you a year to set it up? Just the room acoustic issues?

@markalarsen @ozzy As Mon Acoustic speakers are all in aluminum cabinets, I can relate to the carrying issues head to toe myself. we thought of getting those electrical stair dolly, but wow they cost $10k. I'd rather buy a new turntable. Always think about how to move your components before you start lifting up. 

@inna how is okki nokki cleaner? I am looking into a LP cleaner these days, so many choices. I need to free myself from manual cleaning.

@czarivey You mentioned it, now show off your record collection. Come on. I am far from getting there myself. 

@mahgister You would have to be resilient in learning. I respect you learning all those after retirement age. I recently met someone who started learning audio mixing and sound engineering(hobby level) at the age of 64, I respect! True passion that moves your body and mind like you! 

@ghdprentice You need to share a photo of your system after putting so much efforts into it. I think the more you get to know of each component in your system, you want to perfect it or get the full capability out of the system. I started this audio passion purely out of the asesthetic and as a desired routine of my after work daily ritual. Then I start noticing the rooms for improvement. Then the buying cycle begins again, haha. The usual rabbit hole.

OP, 2 things about setting up the Quads were 1) Controlling the back wave which included finding the correct distance from the back wall, toe in, and finding the correct height off the floor. This last item was the most difficult, everyone thought they sounded best on stands (which came with them) which I found, after long experimentation, no to be so (in my room at least). 2)Figuring out how to handle the back wave was a bit time consuming, but when done I had an outstanding soundstage. And, FWIW, I was fairly anal in those days. :-)

The most effort? Hmmm....that's a tough one.

Learning patience and wisdom when thinking about making a purchasing decision.

That includes (especially) used gear.

It can be an expensive journey.

One of the most interesting journeys for me has been the constant refinement of the system, not by adding or changing components, but by fine tuning things like speaker placement, adding direct 20amp circuits, etc. That's what's taken the most time and experimentation.

Every little change makes an impact, and while I will continue to tweak the above, have really enjoyed learning about how everything impacts and plays off one another.

@newbee Ah, getting the position right  can be a tough one, but in the end, it is a journey that makes it worth while. Especially with ported speakers, room acoustic is crucial and one of the reasons, our designer, Jun is also obsessed with is creating the amazing harmonics. People can get caught on for ages. 
@coralkong Go on, share your story in pursuing your pre-owned items. 

@christianb5s4 So which refinement experience would you say it was well worth your time and effort the most?