How does one get off the merry-go-round?

I kicked the habit completely for 20 years! Got rid of all my audio equipment; i was buying and selling every week! I doubled up my opera subscription, bought tickets to three Carnegie Hall subscriptions every year, went to jazz clubs a couple times per month. It wasn't completely cold turkey as I am in the music business and listen to music all day long in and out of studios. But the listening I did for pleasure was to live music. And there was no system at home. Now I have just bought a system and all that "live" listening has served me well in making judgements. But believe it or not I still have to resist the temptation to fiddle around. Witness the fact that I am on these boards!

"hunter..." had hit the spot! We are just like drug-addicts.
I am kicking the habbit as we speak. Drubin, you are on the right path...don't give-up. Don;t be a sucker (like 99% poster on these pages, including me) anymore!

Right on!

I could quit anytime, I just don't choose to right now. :-)

Maybe after the New York show. :-) :-)

I agree with Garfish. I'm balls to the wall when it comes to high end audio.

I am FAR from being off the merry go round but anyhow.....
* KNOW WHAT YOU WANT **
If you aren't sure what you want how will know when you've found it? If there is something blantantly wrong in your current setup then there's an obvious fix.
I want neutrality. Good luck to anyone deciding to add colorations to their sound. I wouldn't know where to start. So I'm guilty of letting others form my opinions but here goes:
==>As Sam Tellig says in his Jauary 1999 Pathos Twin Towers review "over time, neutrality wears very well". Mike Sanders said in Sterephile March 2001 "An SET is fun at first but kind of grates on you after awhile.. the bad points start eating away at you...I don't think having a little less bass or a less high is annoying...the annoying thing is the higher distortion because you don't get the distortion cancellation that you do with push pull".
*** TRUST YOUR OWN EARS ******
Hearing is a skill which is developed over time and with a lot of effort. But it is subjective and there is little agreement between people on anything. You can get totally confused reading everyone's opinion on the web. Better to spend your time in the stores listening to stuff and developing your own opinions and hearing skills. Then you can be confident in what you know.
*** DON"T OBSESS OVER THE LAST FEW PERCENT ***
Wire, power cords, vibration isolation (except for TT), amber blocks, Auric Illuminator, and on and on. First there may be no difference. There is no measured data to show that there could be any audible differences (unless a mfg'r intentionally messes with the AC waveform to color the sound). Search Audio Asylum on Auric Illiminator. No one can even agree on what it does to the sound! Some say it's more bright. Others say it smoothes the sound out.
No one in the history of mankind can tell the differences between wire if they can't see it first.
These last few percent can make you loose sight between reality and fantasy. What you perceive and what really exists. If there are differences, they are extremely slight. Why get hung up on "magic sh!t"?
*** OWNING A STEREO IS WALKING A TIGHTROPE ***
I am always wondering, will buying better stuff make me HAPPY? If so, for how long? What happens once the newness wears off. When my ears adjust to the better sound?
Then I'll wonder if I'd be just as satisfied if I had spent less. Learn to accept and be happy with a bit less resolution. If someone switches components and I walk back in the room and can't tell the difference or don't care, why should I pay for that??? If a cheaper component doesn't annoy me over time why upgrade?
Is there something better out there? I don't know. Go to the stereo shop and give it a listen.
*** JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING SOUNDS DIFFERENT DOESN"T MEANS IT"S BETTER ***
You can get bored with your stereo if you spend your time listening to components and not the music. So buy more music, forget the components! I push my speakers back. Get more bass. Great! A week later I pull 'em out into the room. Better frequency response and midrange. Great! Not better - different. But that was free. How many amps should I buy to keep changing the type of sound? Gets expensive and I'm not really moving forward. Only in circles.