Major mistakes made in assembling your audio rig

My first speakers were brand new Vandersteen 2ce and I didn't like them after few months of usage. The futher I heard them the further they stinked. Immediately after few months I bought used Aerial 10t that is on my system still for past 16 years and any attempt to upgrade them ended up keeping them. I also realized that most of the higher-end wires are only different by outside look just like designer jackets and shoes and replaced them with studio pro-grade ones that are not as pretty but darn lot cheaper. I only kept Kimber 8TC unterminated bulk wire.

Discarding my vinyl and table was a HUGE-ass faux pas on my part.

None my system at present is wonderful!!

Forcing tab "A" into slot "B".

This major "mistake" turned out to be a major lesson that would help me avoid other mistakes in the future. Many years ago, as a young budding audiophile, I made my first brand new (full retail) purchase, the AR SP9 preamp. After reading some rave reviews I was excited at the prospect of owning my first AR piece. I went to a local dealer where I heard it in what is still one of the most memorable systems I have ever heard: Snell Type Aiii, VTL, Roksan/Koetsu, SP9, MIT. I brought it home only to feel great disappointment because, even after a long break in period, it made (more accurately, it let) my system sound bleached out, thin and threadbare and just plain awful. After several days I took it back to the dealer who had agreed to issue a store credit. I thought that perhaps there was something wrong with this particular sample. In order to test it he inserted it into the same system as before and, once again, the sound was glorious. That was the moment when I understood the importance of system synergy and the idea that some gear simply does a much better job of getting out of the way and revealing the sound of the other components in the system. A great lesson. The store credit resulted in, among other things, my first vacuum record cleaner; another great lesson.