Getting off the merry-go-round – AFRAID TO???

No need to get off. Its the ride we live for.

Probably most of us have that same concern to some degree.

Perhaps rather than trying to change out your equipment on a regular basis, you could switch to either:
A). Trying out different music from different genres.
(i.e. if you're into jazz, try classical or visa versa.
Or, even if you're only into rock, try different sub-catagories, like alternative rock, or heavy metal. (This is currently what I am trying to do to kick the upgrade habit! It is somewhat working, as I have at least slowed down! :-) )

B). Or, if you're into vinyl, like I am, you could try to either get better pressings of albums you already have, or better yet, get vinyl copies of albums you only had CDs of.

Both of these alternatives still involve spending money, but this is a hobby after all. (And at least the law of diminishing returns does not play into it as much, except for getting the best pressing alternative, which is starting to get a little bit expensive! However, IMHO, that is almost an investment, as the price of good pressings seems to be rising pretty constantly. I honestly feel I have made money on my good or rare pressings, should I feel the need to sell them.)

My two cents worth.

DON'T WORRY!!! It's just part of human nature that we are never permanently satisfied. Signed, a student of psychology

Fdalto--
Proverbs 27:20--"Hell and Destruction are never full;
So the eyes of man are never satisfied."

I majored in psych also.

If a person really believes that the purpose of the system is to allow him/her to listen to music and music is the primary goal, then it should be easy enough to get off the merrygoround. But if the equipment is equally important (or of greater importance) as the music, then the merrygoround goes on forever. When I read "it's about the music" (not in your post, I don't think you say that), but in the mags and online, I often cringe because what I see is more like "it's about the music being a justification for spending money on equipment". For people who it really is almost entirely about the music, they often care very little about the sound system and lots about music. And there are millions more of these kind of people than there are audiophiles. I believe that the depth and richness of music far exceeds that of equipment and that if I could put that into play (and not be distracted by the allure of the equipment) I would indeed be off the merrygoround and better off (no pun intended) for it. Good question.