When I want to hear something new, I drop by a local dealer-friend's place. I've given them enough business where I don't feel like I'm wasting their time and neither do they.
My system is at a point where if I change a component, it'll cost far more than I can afford to get a realistic improvement; any change I can afford will be a lateral move at best.
I've stuck to cables and tweaks the last few years (with the exception of a Rega DAC) whenever I want to hear a change. Anything bought has been returnable for a full refund or an in-home demo borrowed. The only thing in this regard that I've bought and kept was a Kimber Hero with WBT interconnect to replace my Audioquest King Cobras.
I've never gotten bored with my current system. I've had my Bryston B60 and Audio Physic Yara monitors for a bit over 4 years now, and it just gets better and better. It's remained fully engaging and entertaining the entire time. The Rega DAC took it up several notches from the Theta Cobalt DAC I was using. I tried a bunch of $1k and other DACs in the system and none were worth the cost to replace the Theta. Truthfully speaking, none of them improved on it, they were different at best and usually downgrades for one reason or another. I was completely fine with keeping the Theta until I got the chance to take home the Rega DAC.
I play around with speaker positioning and moving around stuff in the room from time to time. I usually revert back to where everything currently is, as the tradeoffs aren't as great as they first appear after a few weeks or so.
Game over with component upgrades. Unless of course I move into a home with a room that needs bigger speakers and/or more wattage to fill it.
My system is at a point where if I change a component, it'll cost far more than I can afford to get a realistic improvement; any change I can afford will be a lateral move at best.
I've stuck to cables and tweaks the last few years (with the exception of a Rega DAC) whenever I want to hear a change. Anything bought has been returnable for a full refund or an in-home demo borrowed. The only thing in this regard that I've bought and kept was a Kimber Hero with WBT interconnect to replace my Audioquest King Cobras.
I've never gotten bored with my current system. I've had my Bryston B60 and Audio Physic Yara monitors for a bit over 4 years now, and it just gets better and better. It's remained fully engaging and entertaining the entire time. The Rega DAC took it up several notches from the Theta Cobalt DAC I was using. I tried a bunch of $1k and other DACs in the system and none were worth the cost to replace the Theta. Truthfully speaking, none of them improved on it, they were different at best and usually downgrades for one reason or another. I was completely fine with keeping the Theta until I got the chance to take home the Rega DAC.
I play around with speaker positioning and moving around stuff in the room from time to time. I usually revert back to where everything currently is, as the tradeoffs aren't as great as they first appear after a few weeks or so.
Game over with component upgrades. Unless of course I move into a home with a room that needs bigger speakers and/or more wattage to fill it.