i think its very confronting just listening to music - and not listening to how the equipment sounds. settling in and just enjoying the music takes being open minded.
Ive had well over 100 pieces of gear ranging from solid state amps - tube amps - class d amps - class g amps (arcam) - cd players - dacs - streaming devices - turntables - speaker cables - interconnects - like someone said - its a hobby - what else should you be doing.
same as golf - im a golf enthusiast - for 30 years ive chased this tip and that swing method - all promising to lead me to a golf perfection
so what i see now as with stereo and golf - its not the hobbies so much im addicted to - its chasing that im addicted to - so ive joined a 12 step program for chasing - ill let you know how it turn out.