The Psychology of Constant (Equipment) Change

The link within that link to Dr. Richard P. Goldwater’s 1973 article for the Boston Audio Society really hits it. The hobby was at its apex during those years.

Neurosis or passive art form?

I hadn't touched my system for almost 10 years, but a bad decision led to blowing one of my tweeters. Rather than have it rebuilt I decided to upgrade the speakers to 1978 Altec Model 19s. Granted these were much better speakers than the Polk LSi I was using, but I didn't realize how much better the sound quality could be. This led me on a journey over the next few years of swapping out every piece of gear in my system, some pieces several times. Now I have several amps from Decware on order (two year waiting list) because I want to hear even more out of my system. I got the bug :-(

@tomcy6 

100% correct.

Just illustrates different personality types.  Some folks want to hone one system to its max -- perfectionists -- while others want to see what different combinations create -- explorers.  Neither is "right."

My system is set up with swap bays so that I can use a bunch of different sources with 3 different preamps, 5 different amps, and 3 different sets of speakers (plus other speakers I can pull out). Of course there's some calibration required depending on what I've just swapped in. 

It's all good fun.  It may also match a certain mood or genre of music.  Some combos better with electronica, others with classic rock.  And some also better with some sources than others. Phono preamp isn't a good mix with my Levinson pre but works well with my BAT pre.  

To each his own on this front. Don't forget about the music! 

See: frontal lobe