I lately wonder why I’m an Audiophile.

Simply acknowledging these sound variables rather than evaluating and analyzing is key to a relaxed state of listening. I do like some of the previous allusions  in this thread to Buddhist philosophy, lessening desire allows one to see things as they really are, analyzing, comparing, evaluating comes from the wellspring of desire. Relax your mind, let the sound and music flow, you'll be a much happier audiophile. 

Members over the course of the past year have alluded to this state of listening which mirrors aspects of meditation - acknowledging and letting go of passing thoughts and observations, staying within the moment and focusing on one thing at a time (breath, music, gardening, exercise, whatever it may be).

One could successfully argue that there's similarities and overlap between these approaches - meditative state vs critical listening. But the key difference which was mentioned is "simply acknowledging these sound variables rather than evaluating and analyzing [which] is key to a relaxed state of listening." 

Personally, I've found posts like this of value and somewhat validating; maybe I'm not alone in my approach. So +1 @sns even if I took your statement further into the stands in left field. Listening can be more than just listening for both the audiophile and general listener. 

spending too much time listening to music is detrimental to other aspects to life.  Find something else for a couple days of the week.  I volunteer some time to a local nonprofit.  Just being away for a day or so makes you appreciate what you have.

@boxcarman +1: I've experienced this as well and something that I've become very conscious of over the years. Striking a healthy balance with other activities helps promote greater levels of gratitude when relaxing with the audio system. For myself, gardening and landscaping has been my counterbalance. 

@rvpiano I finally understand where you're coming from! I don't believe you should distance yourself from being an audiophile, rather you should consider yourself a happy audiophile. 

I also understand why some feel the need to distance themselves from this hobby/obsession. In our family business I regularly encounter a couple individuals who've interacted with audiophiles in their line of work. One was a former salesperson at one the the local high end audio dealers (now a custom woodworker), this guy absolutely detests audiophiles, he perceives them as angst ridden, insecure, obsessed, absolutely anal in their audiophile quest. He's happy with what many of us would consider just above mid fi system. The other individual is a musician that works for a local custom room treatment manufacturer (we help in the manufacturer of these treatments). He simply doesn't get the whole obsession with chasing down the last iota of performance- from a home system, this both audio and home theater installations, again he perceives them as angst ridden people fixated on concerns he'd never have. He gets his audio and music 'fix' from performing live music for an audience. 

Point in all this, based on outside, and 'inside' perspectives audiophilia often seen as an affliction rather than something enjoyable. Doesn't have to be this way, I've seen both happy and angst ridden audiophiles in my lifetime, contentedness comes from within when one learns to allow it.

Goldilocks and the three bears story works for me. Papa bear - sound of the system; moma bear - sound of the recordings; and, Babybear - the music itself.

As we get older it is said we start to return to our infancy. Or perhaps, we begin to sense the importance of that which brought us here in the first place, the music. 

Personally, I think that being obsessive about the audio illusion has ultimately done more harm to the enjoyment of music than either deficient recordings or poor performances. 

@newbee 

 “Personally, I think that being obsessive about the audio illusion has ultimately done more harm to the enjoyment of music than either deficient recordings or poor performances.”

Totally agree!

I am really close to where I want to be.  My wallet told me so.

Seriously, it is just nice to hear all the things in an album.  The radio or my crappy system just wasn't going to do it.   Now I pay better attention since I'm not sitting there thinking,  What do I need next?

Wake of Poseiden is sounding incredible at this moment.  Fripp and the mellotron...