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

I have read only the most recent few posts to this thread, but the whole idea of down sizing seems like a good idea: fewer chassis, fewer power cords and IC's, smaller rack, etc. It's nice to see that many others are thinking along the same lines.

So that I won't feel like I am giving up much in the process, I will probably seek out a system that tends to focus the listener on musical content rather than technical realism. If that "musical meaning" thing is covered, I will probably be less likely to worry about transparency, imaging, frequency extension, etc. Hopefully, I will net some left-over cash, too.

Larger, more expensive systems don't always sounder better--or give their owners the added enjoyment commensurate with their elevated prices, other than maybe gragging rights. I'd like to try the "less is more" theory and see what happens.

Great thread.

Nice post!

With highly efficient 8 ohm speakers, I think a great sounding system is possible with integrated gear. I have 4 ohm inefficient Maggies though, and that choice strongly influences all the rest. I tried driving them with my Denon 3803, which is only rated down to 6 ohms (170 watts/ch @ 0.7 % THD). It sounded clean enough, but compressed and flat. Piano never pleased me on this system. I don't know of an integrated A/V receiver capable of providing a suberb sound with these speakers. So, I ended up getting separate amps for the mains (Adcom 5802) and center (Outlaw M200). Now the system sings to my complete satisfaction and I planned no further updates. Since my DVD plays DVD-A, however, I decided to try out the new surround music format. Surprise, next I had to buy an ICBM to manage the bass and a bunch of interconnects. Don't know where it's going to end. I'm happy now, but my system is embarrassingly complex and rational non-audio people look at me funny when they see it. I don't see how to make it simpler and sound as good.

For those of you who say you get more excited about music, I would recommend internet sights like www.listen.com or www.napster.com

It's a payed sight ($25 for 3 months), but you can sample all you like - that should get you excited!
You can discover new music - even cross genres.

I'm only on the virtual merryground. Because:
1) Haven't found an improvement that is better in most ways over what I have now. There are some improvements but some drawbacks too.
2) Even if I upgrade, I still won't be satisfied and will want to upgrade more so what's they point?