The argument against upgrading

It's been said that the sequence of "knowing" goes something like this:

1) you don't know what you don't know

2) you know what you don't know

3) you know what you know

4) and, you don't know what you know.

I'd like to use the following as an illustration:

We run a part time repair shop with the purpose of keeping good audio gear from winding up in the dumpster.  We commonly see equipment come in that was purchased when the owner was in college, just moved in to their first apartment, or inherited/gifted from deceased family or friend.

In their minds, their gear is still the Holy Grail of audio performance. Some of the gear is, at best, "mediocre" often including model numbers we've become quite familiar with.  Like the number "9", followed by "oh" then "one".

We're in the repair (sometime restoration) business, not the soul crushing business.  Telling a guy that his stuff "wasn't worth the postage to send it over here from Japan", or "those speakers are perfectly fine ... as long as you don't try to play music through them"  is not a good way to make friends.  So, we fix what is broken and take our little Q-Tips and remove 50-years of nicotine stains from the rear the front glass.

The bigger point here is that these are functioning systems that still provide thrilling performance to their owners.  They would immediately turn down an offer to trade even up for a stack of the latest (competent) gear at 3x the value of their gear.  I'm certain that I could "persuade" them in 3-minutes or less just how much music they are leaving in those boxes (errors of omission) or how much "other stuff that shouldn't be there" (errors of commission).  But, why?  Our "upgrades" are usually limited to replacing those (awful) preamp jumpers.  Taking them from "you don't know what you don't know" to "yep, my stuff sounds like #&*#$!!" serves no real purpose.  Yes, we do performance "mods" but only after the customer has indicated they love the form and function of their gear, have a strong emotional attachment to it, but would entertain the concept of it sounding better than it did when it left the factory.

Related to "upgrades" in general, my most positive experiences (as in BLOWN AWAY) have been those concepts that initially pegged the needle on my BS meter, reluctantly auditioned (as in dragged kicking and screaming into the demo room), and discovered to be legit.

@mahler123 

I’ve been listening to the Songs for Groovy Children Hendrix box set this morning. In high school, Band of Gypsys was a favorite of mine. At age 69,  I don’t believe my enjoyment has diminished one iota but how I’m listening, what I’m focusing upon, certainly has. Way back when, it was largely "raw sensation" ; I couldn’t have verbally communicated what exactly was affecting me when I heard these tracks. I felt a power in them that grabbed hold of me emotionally and physically. It was  intoxicating, in a similar way that smoking pot would later become. Listening offered a  pleasant sort of disorientation; a sense of "getting lost in the music".

Now, with many more decades of listening and playing guitar under my belt, I’m focused on what is actually being played and the interaction between the musicians. Do I still feel "intoxicated" ?  Well, yes, but I don’t feel lost or disoriented. I feel intoxicated from being more present, more focused on the "details". Having said that, my system is quite modest, so the degree to which the details are now evident is as much a function of a developed ear and understanding of music as they are a function of improved fidelity. Is it the same as when I was 14? No. Would I trade my current experience for that of the fourteen year old’s? No. 

An additional observation i could add relates to novelty.  Whenever I add a new component that makes a good bit of difference I revel in that change for a short while.  Then as time goes on the sound becomes the new normal. My aural memory of the old sound fades. I’m left wondering if I had helped my overall musical satisfaction.

I find a true upgrade, which by definition is an improvement, is always sonically and musically a good thing...of course we each have different ideas about what constitutes an improvement, and how much time and money it is  worth spending...I think it is important to enjoy what you have, and upgrades can be fun...though my days of getting on the floor to change cables and carry heavy amps are done...

“Then as time goes on the sound becomes the new normal. My aural memory of the old sound fades. I’m left wondering if I had helped my overall musical satisfaction.”

@skinzy - That is exactly when you want to reinsert the former component back into your system to verify whether the new component was actually an “upgrade”. From there, you can try shorter duration A/B comparisons to verify your decision.