Onhwy61 wrote: My question, which is intentionally very open ended, was intended to find out if there was a specific area along the audiophile type activity spectrum that we could agree upon as the central focus of our hobby
I like Art Dudley's definition: the purpose of a hi-fi is to play your records with an acceptable degree of fidelity, and thus bring music into your home. No audio component, let alone system, is perfect, so priorities have to be selected and acceptable compromises determined. These may well be different for each person, with those appreciating offerings from companies like Linn and Rega perhaps not caring for products from VPI and Basis. This is the central focus of the hobby for me, both as a consumer and, formerly, as a salesman--determining what aspects of reproduced music make it compelling for the end user and figuring out how to best accomplish that within the constraints of one's home and budget.