Have you reached your end point with this addictive hobby?

I was very fortunate to be able to do a major system upgrade in 2021-2022.   My main system is very satisfying,  I am pretty much done for a while

I also put together a small bedroom system that is really good, I could live with just that system it sounds so good..

Definitely in a holding pattern as far as new gear.   Possibly may get a CD player for system 2.   

Upgrading or as I like to call it tweaking my system is a fun part of this hobby for me.  I’m set with my system in that it’s the best sounding system I’ve had.  I enjoy listening to my music for hours which is the best part of the hobby.  I have sold the extra equipment I’ve kept as I upgraded to simplify things and remove the boxes to reduce the clutter.  I will continue to tweak my system over time as long as it brings me joy.  

After a half century in this crazy hobby, there are certain lessons learned

- This hobby is a journey and never a final destination. 

- It always was a continual desire to upgrade and improve, with a series of incremental steps to “yep ..it sounds really good”. The expensive hurdle now is that further audio improvements is trapped by the cold hard facts by the inverse ratio: a further 25% improvement  requires a ka-Ching 4X outlay in cash …well into five figures per most components .

- as I aged and transitioned into retirement, that ethereal insatiable thirst for a higher “good” was flattened and tempered with a certain element of  acceptance of “ good enough”. But never a finite “final” acceptance yet ,.,. Further tweaking options are left open. 
 

TAKEAWAY : audio value for $$ spent …. 

In my view, good audio performance value doesn’t come down to how cheap something is; for me it’s about how much you get for the money. 
In those terms, it comes to materials, premium design and quality build, that spurs performance,

“Price is what you pay, Value is what you get.”
- Warren Buffett
 

I'm definitely done. As others have stated, I still look at new gear, but every time I listen to my system, I think 'damn, that sounds so good!' The itch is still there, but the need to scratch it doesn't exist anymore, and I can live with that.

I’m done as well. I think I have all of the pieces that I’ve wanted and satisfy my current needs. Things are getting too expensive and I’m at the age where downsizing is on the horizon. Im happy with what I have.