Why did you purchase the equipment you have and what do you like most about it?

Dealer? What dealer! 

I retired.  The plan was to buy a decent set of Bluetooth. speakers, Edifier S2000 Pro.  My son, who also loves music, came home.  Can we listen to music?  The big system is not even hooked up.  The preamp was noisy, it was all unhooked.  We spent an hour trying to hook the speakers up.  We listened to it, not good. We'll I didn't want to spend money on a preamp.  I bought a passive preamp.  I also bought a Bluesound and didn't realize the volume control on the Bs was not good.  Lots of others were still not interested in streamer playback..  I had Klipsch RF3 and an AB International amp so I could play music!  Sounded good.

Then it happened.  What kind of speakers?  I had to read lots.  I ended up with Crites Cornscala, now called Type B.  Sold the RF3 to the guys bringing the new speakers.  These things are efficient. I did have the volume thing figured out yet.  If I played it loud, it sounded better.  The left speaker didn't seem to play as loud. Image was off center.  After I repaired the DIY Marchand crossover that was gone.  New volume controls and RCA jacks.  Oh boy!  Big step forward.  I wasn't a fan of passive preamp with no volume remote control.  Got a tube buffer, didn't like that.

Got a Khozmo with remote.  Amps.  I tried a Schiit Aegir.  My speakers are 99 dB efficient. My son kicked it out.  I did too.  Sold that, got a Pass XA25 and that's it, very good, I mean superb.  Added a Topping D90 somewhere along the way.

Just this past couple months, I got an Innuous streamer and a Denafrips Pontus 2 12th. I am still soaking that in but love the sound.  This all started when I was fed up with the BLUOS app.  Amazon was not that great, so I tried Qobuz. Jammed up with BLUOS.  Now, I can sit down and start it up.  No frustrations.

Along the way, I added several tweeks:  Internet filter, Furman, springs under speakers, sound treatments. All these are worthwhile. 

I am very happy with the outcome.  5 yrs later. 

5 1/2 years of delivering the Washington Post in grades 7-12 gave me the means to purchase my first stereo (Advents, Sansui 2000x, Dual 1215S, M91E). I spent months in stereo shops listening first. Reading the very first edition of The Absolute Sound gave me the idea to purchase a second set of used Advents- double Advents. My first Audio show, where I met Saul Marantz, Jon Dahlquist, and James Bongiorno at the Dahlquist/GAS booth from reading an article in Popular Electronics about building the Ampzilla and another in High Fidelity by Bascom King about the amp, led to my purchase of the Ampzilla kit and building it (I still have it) and my first piece of high end gear. That booth led me to corresponding with Saul Marantz about modifying my Marantz Model 7 pre and purchase of used Dahlquist DQ10’s and adding two Dahlquist subwoofers.

 latest purchase was preceded by reading lots of comments here and happy experiences with my N100H. I just installed an Aurender N200, purchased intentionally new from a terrific store that I wanted to support- Comman Performance AV in Falls Church, VA. Sorry about the lengthy post but my purchases come from lots of homework and from others being generous with their knowledge with me. Thanks, Jeff!

I’ve been listening, reading, building, selling, swapping and buying hifi since the early seventies and almost every move has been an upgrade, or at least a noticeable change.  I will never stop reading and listening, but other than changing my DAC, I’m really happy with my current setup. And speaking of the DAC, it’s a Pontus ll and I really enjoy the sound of the R2R sound and would love to hear others, but it ain’t as easy as it used to be.

Fifty years of trial and error. Countless iterations of some form of a system.

Perfectly happy with current setup.

That's all that counts.

Well after all these years of chasing the perfect sound I ran into Hans Looman 6 years ago.  He brought his amp from Canada to Texas for a home demo in front of my grounds and he made my amp run into a corner with its tail between its legs. The next thing you know I’m helping develop his cable line and now have all Infigo electronics to go with my Gato FM6 speakers and and Rel 212se subs. I have no need to search anymore. I just look for music now.