How competitive are you with your system?

Mostly I can't compare many of my components to others as many are custom builds or highly modified. I don't even understand comparisons in many cases as our systems, rooms, ears so unique, difficult to apply a single reference to anything. 

I presume monetary value of our components/sytems is the main point of competitiveness within this community.

" Comparison is the Thief of Joy "

I have shared this numerous times on this forum over the past few years.

One can spend oodles of hours fretting over what they have not got, the trudge to discover where one needs to go next is a heavy residual at ones feet and is not going to yield any worthwhile results if other factors are not addressed.

Our Hobby is about Entertainment, Enjoyment, as a result of Musical Encounters.

Musical Encounter is the End Sound, everything Upstream of Produced End Sound is not Sound it is electrical energy being managed.

End Sound is the conversion of the electrical energy, where the energy manifests as a unconstrained release of the energy into a Space which forms Sound. 

The Space the Released Energy is Interfacing with, has a substantial influence and does a lot for shaping the Audible Experience of being exposed to the Audio Systems produced End Sound.

There is not an Upstream Device that is going to have any influence on the Space the Energy is released into, Up Stream Devices do not Remodel Space.

How does comparing Audio Devices in a particular Space have any real influence on the End Sound produced in that Space. 

Remodeling the Space the End Sound is being heard in, will do more for changing ones perception of the Quality of the Sound, than any Audio Device change ever will.

Only then might one be able to really give accurate assessments to changes made within a system.    

Being that humans are social creatures comparison and competitiveness always waiting in the wings. And success in the material world measured by the value of one's material wealth and possessions. So one must surmount much and remain mindful in order to not succumb to the competitiveness. @pindac I really do believe some take pleasure and joy from the competitiveness. 

Being a Person who had many a occasion in the Company of Individuals Known, Not so Known and never met, with the Objective of being in the room to experience a audio system and then an audio system with different Sources added or other Devices attached in place of a resident device.

I have heard broad ranges of brief comments, I have heard many good quality descriptions and fair assessment where some are quite different from your own perception of what was being created as a End Sound.

I have come to learn individuals are unique when it comes to listening and the impact of a aesthetic. Some are Lower Frequency Sensitive, Some are Upper Frequency Sensitive and in general each has their own preference for the cohesiveness of the blend of the range of frequencies. Some are genuinely anticipating something special as a result of visually observing and not hearing, I have seen an item selected as potentially the star of the say, as a result of Polished Metal being the design.

What I am not seeing from individuals is Competitiveness as a common meaning - "the quality of being as good as or better than others of a comparable nature ", this does not show for the audio equipment loaned to the system in use either.

Conviviality, Jovial behaviour in conjunction with Musical Encounters and a Little Learning is key and the fundamental. 

Selections are not marked as a Judging, selections made are based on where it is unmistaken something valuable occurred and the device capable, might prove well introduced to other systems.

I have encountered Speakers that are not too difficult to transport used on system in a unique Space and been very very impressed. The same Speakers in a different Space and with a different system has not been as an impressive a End Sound.

Is the System change not creating a synergy with the Speakers, not letting them sing as they had on anther encounter?

Is the Room the Speakers are being used in not modelled in a way that allows the Speakers produced Energies to be tamed and not be contaminated with colouration from the room interfaces?

Was I as a Listener / Assessor not in the Spirits I was on a previous occasion and was not able to discover the mood that was generated on an alternate musical encounter?

I don't see Competitiveness at the area of the audio interest where produced End Sound is being an encounter.        

My system is the best system ever. We’re talking tone like you wouldn’t believe. Texture is off the charts.  Soundstage? So wide it makes your living room feel like Madison Square Garden. I’ve had audiophiles — big-time people, very serious ears — come over and they’re trembling. Tears in their eyes. One guy said it was better than his wedding day. Everyone says it.