The only problem I see with your argument is that there are people who are never done with their acoustic treatments, too.
You cannot put consumerism obsession to buy the last top audio design on the same footing than acoustics..
😊
There is an end in acoustic because acoustic unlike a piece of gear is not a new panel, it is a room designing process made for a specific speakers/room relation ...The end of this process is programmed by acoustic principle application in some order and is finite ..
Many audiophiles buy new pieces of gear one after the other for decades but where is the audio thread where an audiophile says it treated his room and put some controls on it for decades and decades and is never satisfied ?😁 indicate me one?
Asking the question is realizing the absurdity to compare consumerism and basic applied acoustics controls...
At worst with no money , a nut head as me can do it for a year full time yes to learn about acoustic and make impractical experiments as i did with a grid of 100 tuned resonators, but even this crackpot learning process ended after a year.. And now after loosing my acoustic room in a new house, it takes me a few months to finalize my acoustic smaller room...
Acoustics is an applied art and craft based on science , buying pieces of gear to reach acoustic satisfaction is as you described it better than me a work of an obsessed mind who had not discovered yet how to liberate himself and satisfy himself : he ignore acoustics basic keys about hearing ,then he focus on price tag gear collecting ..
Now as an example :
Listen to this astonishing video about the greek audiophile society...
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/what-say-you-2/post?postid=2635251#2635251
How many of these very creative audiophiles so crafty they were, not passive consumers, even if they are obsessed by good sound, how many are focussing on the acoustics instead of the mechanical, electrical aspect of the gear pieces they all designed completely or in part ?
My point is unlike gear design perfectionism craftmanship in the best case, or unlike gear design collection obsession in the worst case , acoustics controls has an end and is the more important key , not the stability of a turntable , or the source of the electrical alimentation , not the tube amplifiers design , so important they could be , and they are indeed ; but acoustic in my experience outclass anything else in basic and even in ultimate improvement ... The only exception is poor gear component with no synergy for sure ... but designing a room for audio obey a finite set of simple rules and it has a end because it serves specific ears and specific gear choices...The system must has been chosen BEFORE room acoustics choices for best result ...Here some of these audiophiles are obssesed and bought 50 amplifiers in one year never thinking about room acoustic ..😊
Thats all ....
