Testing your system

My version: "Listen with your heart, not your ears".

Wise advice... Thanks OP...

Music is the wave and the sound and the gear are only the navigating surfer body/plank... Learn how to Control your body on and with the plank and dont mistake the plank for the journey...

 The ocean is your room...

Well getting "musical messages" can be successfully achieved using no system at all whether you listen with your heart or more trivial ears. In fact I really do prefer getting musical messages without any audio system for example from guitar or from piano...

Yes, choosing musically satisfying components as opposed to analyzing the level of detail and slam as your primary criteria is a great way to get a musically fulfilling and satisfying system. The trick is developing the skills and experience to do it.

The gist is know what real acoustic instruments and music sounds like and try to listen to the music and not the components when auditioning. Once again, easier said than done.

I agree.  It’s easy to fall in love short term with a lot of stuff out there, because honestly there is a lot of good stuff out there 

The trick is ending up with gear that you are afraid to change or part with because it sounds so good.