Has this happened to you? How can it be stopped?

Anyone who has lived through the ’vintage’ years has little or no inclination to return. Much better interest matches are available now than being tied to a Japanese design team.

I still have a Yamaha and two Pioneers (garage and shed.) They are utilitarian, that’s all.

I have a long established reputation in my area as a lover of hi fi and music. Over the years things have just come my way. Just today a guy from a local radio station dropped off a Teac X2000r, free of charge! A bag of ten inch reels came with it. More to follow. Life is good! Joe

Okay guys all great answers, some had me laughing on the floor. I do need to keep my wife, so I am just putting that out there. Also I have the understanding and reasoning to know my more recent Hi-FI gear outperforms and has much better sound than the vintage stuff BUT I am drawn into (in a crazed psychological way) the older gear. Maybe it was that big metal flat box which my grandfather kept under the bed and took out when he was fixing an old vacuum tube radio or later tube TV.... And yes I have a tube amplifier in my main listening room. 

For all of you telling me it's ok to have this addiction, thanks. I am starting to feel better about it. My wife asked me the other day, "what will I do with all your audio gear if you die, I don't even know how to turn it on?"

My vintage addiction ended when I splurge bought an Harman Kardon KH430 (which turned out to be the best sounding of the vintages, with excellent separation and imaging), a Pioneer SX 450, and a Marantz 2238 all decked out with one of those nice wood cabinets...  All beautiful pieces, all professionally refurbed... 

And they all got blown away, one after the other, by the factory refurbished Marantz nr1200 receiver that I bought including shipping and an extended warranty (which I rarely do) for $600 including tax to the door.  The nr1200 sounded more clear, more spacious, more gutsy, better imaging, quieter... plus it has all the modern hookups, including a streamer and subwoofer management, in addition to traditional tone controls and balance control... oh, and the nr1200 has a remote control as well.  The sonic superiority of the nr1200 was obvious.  

Of course, the vintage pieces are all very nice, very cool looking each in their own classy way... but the new receiver is clearly better on every audio aspect as well as functionally.  So, I sold all the vintage stuff on ebay, made some money and saved some money, and lightened my possessions load while improving the overall quality of the stuff I have kept.

Have I ever had the urge to but a piece of vintage audio gear? No, not at all.