How did U get into this expensive hobby?

As an analogy Leaf, lets me splain it to ya. If you became a Christian by reading the Bible rather than going to church, would you be any less a Christian? Does your argument really make any sense let alone difference in how we arrived at where we are? Each of us got here via a somewhat different path, I’m sure. The POINT is evident to me that most people here LOVE music. There certainly may be a percentage that are gear junkies but that STILL doesn't necessarily mean they got to where they are by the magazines. Case in point, myself. I have been into music as long as I can remember. Mom and Dad bought a Zenith ("The Quality goes in before the name goes on") solid maple console that I spent my childhood listening to music on. Could easily recognize more than the rest the quality difference in recordings. I was 9 years old when we got it. I didn't get my own system until high school, a Lafayette receiver with matching speakers. Went to college bought a used Scott integrated with Dynaco A25's later Bose 501's with garrard turntable. Never did like them as much as the A25's which were really good bookshelf speakers at the time. Mid 70's got a Pioneer SX 838 50-watt receiver, B.I.C. 960 turntable, still had the Bose 501 later sold for Sansui. At this point the changes happened rather quickly. I bought a Yamaha R-9 receiver, based on Audio Magazine review kept the same speakers and bought a Denon turntable, better but something was still missing especially on classical music (the music was STILL 2 dimensional and bright). At this point the Hi-End to me was McIntosh which was very good indeed AND expensive, didn't hear about ARC or the others until....heard from a friend about his brother-in-law’s system. Was invited over and was swept away by his Perraux and Vandersteen 4A Speakers with I don't remember the rest. He told me about a Stereo Store that sold hi quality gear and also about Stereophile Magazine and The Audio Cheapskate. About 1985. I ended up spending 5k on all new gear within 2 months, which I lived with for almost 10 years making a few changes here and there. Stereophile was one guide and listening was the ultimate determinating factor in buying. Hey it sounded like music for the first time although that Scott system was the most satisfying up till then. I always reminisced about it after I got rid of it. The quest I am on now is to realize as close to live as I can or am willing to spend. I haven't found that limit yet but the speakers I am currently listening to for the past 5 months have outclassed everything I’ve put in front of them. Their limit hasn’t been reached. So here I am actively on the journey. My system sounds great but I’ll certainly know when it has arrived, to date it hasn’t. The criteria now have changed with the improvements. I am within striking distance of mimicking live music on the best recordings, and the poor recordings are just that much more enjoyable. Ain’t it Grand?

Me too cornfed that is "2001 a Space Odyssey" My very favorite film.

Oh by the way Leafs I find quite a few music lovers on the audioasylum.com site. Look at the music forum. There are some very serious collectors and music discussions going on there running the full gamut. I have gotten quite an education and have picked up several titles because of that site. Highly recommended.

Craig, there is no doubt about it. Look at all the threads. If you went through them all I would bet at a minimum 90% are related to gear. Not a bad thing. I am less here for the music than input on the gear that makes the music come alive. It wouldn't take too much effort to confirm this casual observation. Does it mean that people here are gearheads? I think not. This forum is as you say more related to buying selling and exchanging information about gear and how it affects the music we listen to.