Changing audio beliefs

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.

@campoly 

I'm with you on that. Not only room treatments, but just good rooms. I was shocked and humbled when a co-worker asked me to help her get her sound system straightened out. It was a super cheap department store stereo system from the 1970s. I got the speakers hooked up in phase and the components hooked up so everything worked again and had a listen. I just about cried because it was beating my system in the lower midrange by leaps and bounds. I had been putting huge amounts of effort into equipment improvements to try to solve a problem that was inherent to my room acoustics. 

I used to believe (and maybe it was once true) that I needed to buy the best of breed of each type of component and pull them all together to achieve a SOTA system. Of course this was a struggle, was expensive, frustrating and  heartbreaking at times. Currently, I have speakers, amps and a digital controller from one vendor (Tidal) and have never had a more engaging and rewarding sound.