How close are you to being to your endgame? My system outline and I'm almost there.

At some point you reach a point of diminishing returns and stay there. This is my end of the line system:

VPI TNT V, SME V, Koetsu Urushi, Vendetta SCP2-D, Conrad Johnson Premier 14, Conrad Johnson Premier 11a, Wilson Maxx 2, Inouye power conditioner, Moon 280D DAC

Some of it is id older gear but it sounds very nice to me and tinkering with it hasn't exposed any shortcomings.

My other systems are:

Sota Cosmos, SME V, Lyra Clavis, Bryston BP17, Conrad Johnson Premier 15 phono, Classe DR3 VHC, Martin Logan CLS, Hegel HD12 DAC
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Roksan Radius 5/Nima/Goldring Eroica LX Classe DR-7, Classe DR3 VHC bridged monos + PSE V monos (bass), Classe DAC1 DAC, Vandersteen 4A

Yes, I’m at my end-game system.

And I’m lucky because it essentially coincided with current downgrade in finances meaning I’m not really in this game anymore. 

Like many audiophiles I owned lots of gear over the decades.  And since I like to play with the sound, I often had more than one set of speakers to play with.  At one point I had up to seven pairs of speakers, including Thiel 3.7, Thiel 2.7, Waveform, MBL omnis, Spendor and others.

Also, in 2009 I had my listening room redesigned with the input of an acoustician, so it’s a great sounding room. 

A couple years ago, I went through a big  shedding of gear I didn’t need or was willing to sell, not only to reducing amount of gear, but also to afford my “ end game“ Joseph audio perspective 2 speakers. 

And that’s where I’ve  landed. 

I have enough gear to play with so that I’m not going to get bored.

I have the Joseph speakers , but I also kept my Thiel 2.7 floor standards as well, which I absolutely love.  I also kept my little Spendor s3/5 s - easy to store and easy to throw in the system whenever I want to glory in their beautiful sound.  And I also have kept my very old Thiel model 2 speakers - ancient simple 2-way monitors that have a magic I can’t give up.

Aside from that I can have fun tube rolling on my Conrad Johnson premier 12 mono blocks (I bought a whole bunch of different tubes to play with a couple years ago).

I can also play with preamps since I own both a Conrad Johnson premier 16 LS2 tube preamplifier as well as a benchmark LA4 solid state preamplifier - different flavours.

For sources I have  my beloved Transrotor Fat Bob S turntable, 12 inch acoustic solid arm, and bends micro ebony L cartridge.

JE Audio HP10 phono stage

For digital I stream  my ripped CD library and Tidal via my Bluesound Node to my Benchmark DAC 2L.

So tons to keep me happy for a long time.  

The only two things I can see as future purchases are:

New cartridge when that needs changing.

I’ve considered picking up a really cheap, decent solid state amplifier to occasionally throw into the system.  So I may keep my eye on the used market off and on for that.

I have to say as somebody who’s been such a fervent audiophile stocking and trying so much gear in the past 30 years, the prospect of not doing that anymore feels pretty weird.  But again if I had to stop, I sure ended up in a nice place! 

Endgame?  Such an interesting term. While I often hear it interpreted as the a quest for the ultimate, I see it as meaning good enough.

My system is in my profile and after working in the audio industry for years, spending some time audio engineering and being a musician my whole life, I feel very satisfied. While I know that objectively there are components and speakers that have the ability to outperform my gear, my current system crosses my personal threshold for musicality and that magic illusion of the delivery system disappearing. Is it the end all and be all of audiophilia? By no means.  Is it good enough so that I can devote my finances and time to the pursuit of other things that bring me joy? Absolutely.

I don't lean towards the notion a System is produced to be End Game / Ultimate no longer to be considered as it is not able to be surpassed.

I prefer to think of the Journey as one that ends with discovery and discoveries yet to be made are in waiting.

A Sound produced as a result of an Electronic Signal being sent for Amplification through a selection of Circuits with a Particular Topology via Connecting Cables is a End Sound that is in certain configurations of the audio devices able to make a very good impression when heard. 

From my own experiences had, when the End Sound produced is able to Impress, I work to build on from such a Cornerstone. 

The selected Speakers Coupling to a room is a good place to place ones attention. Energies created in the Listening Space are having measures put in place to the listening Space, with the intention to mitigate the negatives that can occur to the End Sound. A negative influence passed on by local energies can be easily detected for being audible!

 As stated by myself in another Thread:  

 "Coupling a Speaker to a room is the way forward to create a confidence the speaker interacts at its best when transmitting sound through the physical structure of the room, including the floor, walls, ceiling and locally placed items. 

The Speaker / Room Interaction can have a profound effect that is a negative impact on the quality of the sound being transferred. Creating effects like room modes (standing waves), Reflected Sound, Causing Local Placed Materials to produce sound. Each when being generated will be negatively affecting the overall acoustic characteristics of the room. "

When a Speaker is undeniably approaching or at an Optimised Coupling to the Space it is being used in, there is a substantial Positive Outcome. Earlier produced sound that was assessed as impressive is not longer wanted to be maintained, the notion to reverse what has been done and return to what was the previous interface will be speedily rejected as a practice.

With this new influence on place, opportunity to be further inquisitive are to become at the forefront to be considered.

End Sound can be Investigated / Toyed With, as there is subtle additions that can make impressions that are preferential and when discovered wanted to be maintained.

My Own System is with a selection of devices I am Loyal to, they are mainstays and then there are mainstays that are used for periods of time until Rolled for an alternative device to create a Variant of the End Sound.

Using my system and the configurations it can be assembled, as a result of devices readily available to swap out, I am able to experience a variety of End Sounds where neither is more impressive than another, but some are known with immediacy for what is to be created, as they are familiar configurations.

There is on occasion an experience created that the End Sound is quite unwanted, where a Purchased Device or a Loaned Device can't be synergetic within the system, bit this is extremely positive, as it is measure of the value of work already put in.

Experiencing variants to the End Sounds Audio Equipment is capable of producing, has been the most fulfilling when I have not being limiting myself to what is able to be created, expanding on what is able to created, is the most fulfilling. 

Inevitably one will have equipment to run two systems and have idle devices or One System and a increased quantity of idle devices if this is a route adopted.

I am not shy to loan devices to others for extended periods, Turntables, Tonearms, Amplifiers, Speakers and Cables have all been under the care of others in the past and it is still do in the present. The period of the loan usually is an indicator an attractive synergy is occurring elsewhere.   

Every time I think I’m done, great used buys keep dragging me back in!