Changing audio beliefs

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.

I have a pretty decent compact reference system, not over the top, Marantz SA-10 SACD with its proprietary conversion to dsd, a Luxman 590AXii integrated rated at 30 watts Class A and Yamaha NS-5000 loudspeakers.  Over 60 years of upgrading of course the equipment is better, and I continue to believe in SACD discs, particularly when you can compare redbook cd, remasters of the same music.  I still believe better equipment can make better sound.  I believe upgrading electronics and keeping what many might consider "average" loudspeakers (which the Yamaha's are not).  It reminds me of the master Italian tailor I used who retired.  He could make a suit from scratch and of course tailor a high end Italian suit to perfection.  But when I brought him a $180 Calvin Klein suit from Marshall's, what did he say?  "Nice suit".  And then it was his tailoring that made it look more expensive.  So upgrading electronics first is like the tailoring for your loudspeakers which are the suit.  That leaves the next step, comparing different cd recordings of the music you love and the music you know was recorded with great care and expertise regardless of time such as Steely Dan and Billie Eilish.  In the end, then the thing that matters most, perhaps more than even "the best" equipment is the music with which you emotionally connect and the quality of the recording.  

I used to pretend - like many others - that it was only the music that mattered. Now I understand and accept that I really enjoy the sound of HiFi. My system really doesn't sound that much like being present in the middle of the audience for a rock or classical concert, but it often does create a reasonable illusion of being in a rehearsal where I can wander up to the stage and find a place that allows me to listen in to the performers. It also can fool me into feeling like my listening room has Bill Evans and a few of his friends in it. In my experience, most HiFi is more "technicolor" than most live concerts, and rather than pooh-poohing that, I can now admit that I actually enjoy it and curate my system around its pursuit.  And here's a truth that felt weird until several of my audiophile friends confirmed that they share it: after a few days without listening to my system, I can get a bit antsy and anxious to do some listening again. There's something in HiFi sound that is literally addicting...

It's quite the opposite for me. 

Those "performance upgrades" from years past still validate themselves each time I listen.  And, I'm fully aware my knowledge base is incomplete and there is more to learn ... and experience.

I used to believe cables and power conditioning etc did not matter.  Then I built a fully treated properly calibrated studio with full treatment (clouds, diffusers, giant first reflections, giant chunk bass traps in a properly sized room with 10’ ceilings) and reluctantly did some demos with a local hifi store owner.

Biggest surprise was USB cabling making a significant difference.  All 1s and 0s right?  Come visit my studio and you will hear every single cable change.  Interconnects are very subtle to me but otherwise they are subtle to minor to pretty significant with each change.  Proper power conditioning was the other thing (Gemini 8 from Shunyata and also tried a Hydra Sigma that was even better) Shunyata and Cardas made a super skeptic into a believer.