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

Well spoken Chashmal!
Wonderful!
Cheers,

May I propose that those who have either great gear or very simple gear, are most likely to concentrate on the music.

Nice to see a vintage thread revived...

Dear Greg,
Proposition wholeheartedly accepted. I've lived in both states and know the truth which lies in your statement.

I am now off the merry go round and after a period of depression I have finally come to terms with it. What I found out about myself was that the process upgrading and swapping out gear was a big part of what I enjoyed about this hobby. I was just as much in love with obtaining the SOTA gear as I was with listening to music. After doing this at a pretty crazy rate for 3 years, I have finally ended up getting all the gear I want. With the upgrade excitement gone, I stopped listening to my system for a few months. It is ironic that after putting together a system supposedly only for the sole purpose of listening to music, I was no longer interested. I found myself buying "audiophile" music that I did not necessarily enjoy but that would make my system sound best. Clearly, I had lost sight of what this whole hobby is all about and got caught up in the process.

Only recently have I gone back to listening and what I re-discovered was my love of music. Growing up, I never cared how much detail I heard, or how wide the soundstage was, or how accurate the timbre was. I just cared that the music touched something in my soul. I am at the point again where I would be happy with a cheap all in one stereo from Best Buy or Circuit City. It has even crossed my mind to sell everything and downgrade to something much cheaper. Dont get me wrong, I am glad I have the system I have but I dont intend on doing any major upgrades. I will probably add a power cord here or there and get an AC conditioner but thats it. So I can confidently say, I have been and will remain off the merry go round (famous last words of an audiophile).

Could it be that materialism creeps in to our love of music a subtle and quiet way, like a thief in the night, slowly robbing us of the vast expanse of an artform. I say BEWARE! Music is so big, so deep, so amazingly profound. Equipment is merely seductive. Come on guys, which would you really choose? Of course the answer is to have both. Right. That's coming from a guy who just spent thousands on an SET amp and made his wife crazy with it. So I am guilty. I could have lived with my $1000 Audio Refinement SS amp and loved it, but no, I had to upgrade. So maybe this is my confessional. However no matter how deep I go I will always love music the same. No $8000 amplifier can make me love music more.

Signed,
An Addict