HAVE YOU ARRIVED AT YOUR FINAL SYSTEM AND WHAT’S IN IT? WHAT ARTIST IS YOUR GO TO?

@sierratrails looks like a pretty nice rig you got there. 

@tattooedtrackman im a big fan of audio research as well they make some really great gear. I had a preamp of theirs for a dem for about 3 months a few years ago. 

@drrsutliff i like the gryphon stuff I have heard at shows. Very musical. 

@everyone your system is truly a journey. Our audiophile journey starts when we are young as for a lot of us. We get older, make more money and buy more expensive gear along the way. Learning more about the quality of the gear we purchase along the way.  For some of us our ability to afford more expensive gear coincides with the additional knowledge we have gained to allow us to have systems better than the ones we had before it. 

...more of a 'cross-grader', myself...agree mostly with our OP, just done on a IPA budget...*L*