Cured of upgraditis?


For most of my audio life I have suffered from the affliction of updraditis. I'm sure you know of what I speak. However, after my most recent round of upgrades, and with lighter wallet, I am at a point where, with the system below, I don't feel the need to change a thing. Of course, the system is not perfect. I have a noisy tube in the preamp and a lip-sync issue with the disc player, but I just want those problems to be solved - I don't actually want to change any of the equipment. Music and movies have never sounded better. It's a curious feeling, like audio nirvana, a sort of zen-like quality. What I'm wondering now is if this condition is temporary and brief or, as I hope, will last a long time, possibly forever. Does anyone have any similar experiences to share?

Oppo BDP-105 universal player
conrad-johnson MET1 6-channel tube preamp
Sunfire Cinema Grand 5-channel power amp
Von Schweikert speakers: VR-33 mains, Unifield 1 center, TS-150 surrounds
REL T1 subwoofer
Cabling: Cardas, a mixture of quadlink and cross
A couple of beers
A good time
malcolm02
Unfortunately you are doomed. Twelve step programs are useless in this area. Don't even think about going to any audio shows, for if you do, terminal 'upgraditis' will set in. In the short term, the only hope is that you have a few college educations to pay for. That way your pocket will be much lighter for many, many years. Once those educations are paid for, trouble will return. However, your inability to do any grade should last for about 20 years. Maybe by then your hearing will be failing and that will confirm that upgrading will not permit you to hear anything better then you have now. Enjoy the the music.
it's a state of mind. many can be satisfied with less --sonically and investment in components.
I cured my hifi upgraditis by buying a couple of nice used acoustic guitars. Talk about high fidelity! Now instead of worrying about soundstaging and timbre I ask myself "does the resonance of my Spruce/Rosewood guitar overwhelm note clarity and separation compared to my Adirondack/Mahogany guitar?

Hey, acoustic guitars save more energy than Class D amplifiers! Zero watts at idle or full volume.
Your system sounds wonderful, but be sure your beer is not in need of an upgrade. It's often the littlest things that make for the largest differences. Have fun...at least for a while.
How do you like the VR33 speakers? I am considering a pair but haven't heard them. I need something to go close to the rear wall and they seem to be just the ticket. Mostly, how do they sound on rock?
Stereo5
I like my VR-33s very much. They took an awfully long time to break in, until which time they sounded a bit thin and hard. In fact the whole system had a hardness to it until I upgraded the source components and preamp, so the speakers were revealing deficiencies in the other components. I like the way they can be placed almost up against a wall, though one of mine is away from the wall as the shape of the room is irregular, and I feel I'm not getting the bass reinforcement that I should. I listen to a lot of rock music. Someone else said they sound a bit too polite, but they sure can play loud. For rock you probably don't need a speaker this refined, just one with good dynamics and low end. It can be difficult to find a pair to audition but if you are in the San Francisco area you are welcome to listen to mine.
There ain't no cure. Get a sponser. Seriously...I may be getting to that place myself. The only problem with making that declaration, is that I've made it so many times in the past. May your satisfaction be long lived.
an intelligent approach to stop upgrading, is to form achievable, sonic objectives. once these goals have been attained, there is no need to make additional purchases.
A sure fire way is to purchase components with burn-in or break-in times that exceed your remaining life expectancy. Then there would be no logic in 'upgrading'. I give this advice free of charge.
Cheers
I have the same speakers and preamp that I had 6 years ago,do not feel the need to upgrade those.I would like to upgrade my poweramp(PS Audio Trio A100)If I ever find fulltime work again(newspapers are not doing much hiring in the pressroom lately).Lack of income has kept me from upgrading,also had to sell a couple nice pieces during the recesion.But I am pretty happy with my system.Once I get my preamp fixed Ill be good.I t seems like once I knew buying any new stuff was out of the question,I stopped thinking much about upgrading and just enjoyed what I have.Now if some kind soul wanted to send a nice poweramp my way, I would not complain.
Thanks everyone for your responses. My post was meant in a humorous tone but it is an accurate description of where I am right now. Like a recovering alcoholic who can't touch another drop lest he relapse, I'm thinking I should just be listening to music and watching movies, and I should not be reading equipment reviews or going to audio shows or participating in audio forums ... oops, already busted on that last one.
schubert, you would be cured for two years.  They take one year to break in!
How long the system lasts is up to the person.  Running out of money is a great way to not have the itch to upgrade as are other priorities in one's life taking precedence in terms of budget (house, kids, etc.). 

I think the toughest situation is if your system components are not terribly expensive.  It seems that every few months some new component is hailed as the next giant killer with a massive amount of hype and one can't help but wonder if this time, it'll actually be as good as claimed and take the system to a whole new level of performance for a very reasonable price.

I'm at the point that not only am I no longer looking to change my system but I'm kind of relieved that I got to where I wanted to get to performance wise.  Spending 12 years putting together a system and ending up at double the original budget will take the allure out of any delusions that further upgrades are a good idea.
Thanks corelli .
I just got off the phone to North Pole and told the big guy to change my order
to a pr of PSB T-3's and a sled full of harpiscord records .