The Psychology of Constant (Equipment) Change

I did the same thing with headphones until I found ones that I really enjoyed and realized all the money I wasted up to then beyerdynamic T1s v1. I’m sure there are better but I’m very satisfied with them and I am done.. with everything else I spend as much as I possibly can afford maybe a little bit over and I know I can’t afford to spend any more money and usually at that point I’m happy with what I get for it .. I still watch all the YouTube reviews and demos on speakers and equipment but I don’t get the urge to go out and spend thousands of dollars needlessly

Try to listen to THE music and not the equipment and that will resolve your disease

Yeah, this hobby is not just about the music or no one would be here.

I swap out gear all the time. I have several pairs of speakers that all sound good, but different.

Exactly. It's about changing things, noticing differences, enjoying differences -- and also hearing the differences through the music. It's a both/and hobby. Accusations that this form of enjoyment is a disease are, themselves, pathological. Even, puritanical.

I love music and gear---I enjoy trying new things whether it's speakers, cables or whatever. Even on a college budget, I used to try new equipment that my buddies at the local hifi store would let me borrow for a few days or so. I would put gear on layaway since I couldn't afford most of the stuff they carried. I'm enjoying my systems now and experimenting with tweaks. Isolation pads, different cables etc...it's a lot of fun. I've never had an external DAC so I'm doing some research on that now. To me it's fun, not a condition. 

I myself wonder about my gear fetish; 3 amplifiers and 4 sets of speakers, soon to be 5. I just like to mix things up a bit.. matching amps and speakers. I wonder though if I sold everything and bought just one system would I like the sound quality more than what my current components offer... if that makes sense. I've bought many components over the years since my sons left the nest but through the child rearing years I stuck with two systems. I only regret selling one amplifier; a Cary SL-100 and a pair of Harbeth SHL5PlusHD speakers.

As a hobbyist, I’d call your condition "normal."

I think there may be 3 (or more) clarifications for those in this group.

- hobbyist: highly energetic, childlike curiosity about all things connected to the reproduction of music in our homes

- audiophile: the development of a very sensitive antenna related to what our systems toss out into the listening space, and extensive vocabulary to relate those observations in meaningful terms to ourselves, and others.

- music lover: a profound appreciation for those with the ability to arrange sounds in various forms to create strong emotional responses to the listener.

The combination all three in balance is the perfect storm of equipment/music appreciation. Some element of all three are required, IMHO, to be "tall enough to ride the ride" here, but some preferences may point to one element as a higher priority vs the others. That emphasis doesn’t make it right or wrong. It just makes it you.

I also think it’s system dependent, whereby "secondary" systems (office, patio, boathouse, etc) may need to meet a certain "standard" to get the job done and pretty much set in place after initial installation. Our "reference systems" may fall under greater scrutiny whereby the sonic standard is set much higher. Thus the need for more critical evaluation and contemplation of alternative solutions to our present gear.