Did your system getting better the more money you spent or more experience you gained?

you are not born with a high level of system building knowledge and great judgment. it’s a process. it’s starts with a passion and hunger to have great music reproduction and a love of music.

the way it works is that (1) at the entry level you do need a minimal level of gear to be able to apply your knowledge and get a decent result. (2) but then past that threshold set up and careful system synergy becomes much more significant than big investments in gear. modest decent well put together systems are better than better gear not effectively assembled. then (3) better or really top level gear or a great room does raise the ceiling for how great things can be, but are no guarantee.

think of it as a kinda ratcheting process. where you maybe take a couple steps forward, a step back learning, another step forward, then sideways, then forward......etc. etc. as you learn and make decisions hopefully they mostly are good ones. but it’s not linear. there are mistakes if you really get after it. and if you are afraid to reach a little bit then you get stuck on a plateau and some of the passion leaves for a bit.

great set-up plus great gear is what takes you furthest. and mostly it takes years or decades to accomplish that. a lifetime process.

In my case, the issue was whenever I would upgrade a piece of hardware, it would develop a new weak link (I'd take big bites out of the upgrade pie). Fix that link and another one would pop up. But before you know it, it levels out and you have a really nice sounding system.

Both.

Good equipment costs money, but you have to end up with a sound you like and are comfortable with. That takes experience, at least enough where you can be honest with yourself.

Short answer is yes, the more money that I spend, the better things sound.

 However when one arrives at the point of diminishing returns, I don’t see much point in playing with additional changes, as everything seems to be a lateral move.

Also, since I am newly retired, even though I could afford to jump into another price tier, I’ll just sit it out for now, as I am still psychologically adjusting to the absence of a steady paycheck.