I've only been at this for about 8 months. I have old NAD equipment and PSB Image 2b speakers. Not much money involved. However, tonight I was alone and listened to Sweet Honey and the Rock. I could hear all the distinct voices, breathing, diction, I could tell the placement of all the singers, and I was thrilled with the depth of overtones and the richness of their voices. I love it and hope I keep my gear simple so I don't get caught up in worrying about my equipment. Having said that, I hope those who get as much enjoyment out of tweaking and upgrading as I do listening, keep it up. Without them I wouldn't be learning nearly as much from this site.
Did you ever just want to simplify?
Have you ever longed for a simpler system? Or a less complicated version of this hobby? I prefer simplicity, but somehow my audio system got complicated. Tubes, digital seperates, expensive cables, various tweaks, 100 lb. amps. I studied a lot and each bit of knowledge caused me to think about every aspect of an audio system, and every audio review or online commentary caused me to dream of new components. Some days it sounds good, others it doesn't. It's a resolving system and every tweak has an impact that seems to cause the equilibrium to resettle. Of course, it's never perfect, just different flavors. Sometimes I wonder if it was worth it. Sometimes i dream of a simpler system. Just turn it on and enjoy the music. Not have to worry about now which tube is going bad, trying to find the perfect tube for the DAC, what happened to my bass today, do I really need that big audio rack, why can't I rearrange the living room to get perfect sound forever? A nice integrated, a one-box (front loading) CDP, some unobtrusive speakers, a few good cables, a power conditioner (a luxury item in a simple system, but worth it in my experience) -- good. Now for the music.