Steve, I bought into the never ending upgrade conveyor as i genuinely enjoyed the extra you get from better. I think it becomes this never ending thing though - the law of diminishing returns gets lost and the futile hope to reach "the end" never quite happens either. You just add more and more and more.
It's only really when big events happen that you stop and think, hang on a sec. The lack of live music, global pandemic, death/loss, and many more factors, you realise that the hifi journey isn't quite as important as you think....
The simple pleasures of music have become more important, as have going to walks, valuing friendships. The need to get out of the house, not stay in it listening to the hifi. More road trips. More anything, than staying in the house ! I suspect if i get it right and downgrade to a system that still is involving enough to make me go "wow" and keep listening is the goal, a sensible compromise/downgrade. This is me and my journey, I know plenty of people who have used the pandemic to upgrade and they get lots of pleasure from this - and good for them - it's just sent me the other way!
Many hobbies can become incredibly obsessive, and in my experience, perhaps none more than the Audiophile one. It's supposedly about the music, but rapidly can become about the sound of the HiFi itself, and how much 'more' detail one can get by spending ever increasing amounts of money. And once the new bit of 'amazing' kit is in situ and becomes the new 'normal' after the honeymoon period, the search begins again.
I dreamed for years of owning really 'high end' gear, and used to buy ½ dozen HiFi mags a month back in the day, fuelling the 'dream' until there was enough of them to become an embarrassing nuisance around the house and out they went when most available information on HiFi went online.
I learnt a few hard lessons after finally owning a Naim system bought new which I really enjoyed for some ten years. I expanded it to include AV, and came to realise that a more expensive or more highly touted piece of kit doesn't necessarily mean better sound - mainly just different - and I finally ended up selling the Naim in favour of Sony 9000ES kit, which both sounded better overall in terms of authentic music reproduction, and played better as regards an integrated AV/music system.
With my interest in music re-kindled, as against interest in the HiFi hobby, within a few years I decided to be rid of most of the boxes, racks and paraphernalia associated with HiFi separates/passive systems, and went fully active with a B&O system.
That's now 9 years ago, and I've never had a moment where I've sat wondering if I could improve the sound by changing this, or swapping that, or feeling that something is not quite right, or 'missing'. Yes, I know there's better out there, but for the level of satisfaction and enjoyment I get out of the system (TV + 4 speakers) with no HiFi angst or desire to upgrade, I'd say my HiFi Eagle has landed. And I have my music and my lounge room back - no more looking like a mad inventors lair/man cave.
Over on Beoworld, it's quite surprising the number of members - ex audiophiles if you will - who have had seriously expensive separates systems, and sold them off to get rid of the clutter, get their music and their rooms back, and seemingly live happily ever after.
The best part for me was 1) getting my music back and 2) getting rid of a lot of unhealthy audiophile obsessions about HiFi kit. Certainly If I was doing it again, I'd be looking at the likes of Kit 3's, Dutch & Dutch or Beolabs - 20's or 50's or the 90's re an fully matched and engineered active system, with minimal clutter, over and above a mix and match, trial and error passive separates system - on both performance and aesthetic grounds.
Good luck with it and wishing you the best
Cheers, John
