you are not born with a high level of system building knowledge and great judgment. it’s a process. it’s starts with a passion and hunger to have great music reproduction and a love of music.
the way it works is that (1) at the entry level you do need a minimal level of gear to be able to apply your knowledge and get a decent result. (2) but then past that threshold set up and careful system synergy becomes much more significant than big investments in gear. modest decent well put together systems are better than better gear not effectively assembled. then (3) better or really top level gear or a great room does raise the ceiling for how great things can be, but are no guarantee.
think of it as a kinda ratcheting process. where you maybe take a couple steps forward, a step back learning, another step forward, then sideways, then forward......etc. etc. as you learn and make decisions hopefully they mostly are good ones. but it’s not linear. there are mistakes if you really get after it. and if you are afraid to reach a little bit then you get stuck on a plateau and some of the passion leaves for a bit.
great set-up plus great gear is what takes you furthest. and mostly it takes years or decades to accomplish that. a lifetime process.