Changing audio beliefs


Are there any audio beliefs you once held to firmly that you no longer subscribe to? 
I was an ardent believer in cables. I still believe cables matter but now not so much. Beyond a basic level of competence in the cable and connector, in my opinion, the rest is smoke and mirrors. Of course, it’s also possible that at my age (senior citizen) cables just do not matter anymore 

zavato

I never was a big believer in cables.  I could detect an improvement as one went a rung or two above bog standard RCA but after that I thought it was diminishing returns.  Digital cables all sound the same to me.  Shielding was the main issue for me with cables.

  For me the dogma of spending a certain percentage on speakers/source/amplification was something I believed in.  However improvements in equipment design, particularly in digital sources, and computer modeling for speakers, seem to have upset that balance, as fantastic bargains are to be had in those two areas. Analog still seems to reflect the older philosophy, in that the more you spend, the more the ROI

I used to believe it was all about the equipment until I heard what room treatments are capable of. It made me realize that it is mostly about how the speakers interact with the big box (room) that they are plopped down in.

+1 @stuartk 

There are certainly things that are on a par with music for me: my marriage, my spiritual life, canine companions and appreciation for nature. In the end, I view all of these as aspects of one thing. 

...sounds good to me.