How competitive are you with your system?

Being that humans are social creatures comparison and competitiveness always waiting in the wings. And success in the material world measured by the value of one's material wealth and possessions. So one must surmount much and remain mindful in order to not succumb to the competitiveness. @pindac I really do believe some take pleasure and joy from the competitiveness. 

Mostly I can't compare many of my components to others as many are custom builds or highly modified. I don't even understand comparisons in many cases as our systems, rooms, ears so unique, difficult to apply a single reference to anything. 

I presume monetary value of our components/sytems is the main point of competitiveness within this community.

Certainly comparison doesn't have to be competitive in the sense one is ranking their system against others, but I'd have never developed a reference for how I wanted my system to sound if I hadn't heard 'reference' systems. From this I desired to achieve this 'reference' sound in my own system. Question then becomes, can desire be completely devoid of competitiveness? I could also use the work ambition in place of desire. I find it odd so many resistant to the idea of competitiveness in audio, since when did ambition become a negative with no redeeming qualities?

I recall having great envy when hearing or reading about systems far better than mine in early days. I dreamed that some day I could have a system that could compete with those, this was the single greatest motivating factor in building audio system. 

I'll posit competitveness drives all of us at some point along the road, we likely all have references for the sound quality/qualities we'd like to attain. We compare our systems to those and we strive to equal or better that system. I very much recall going to this local audio show many years, and thinking for the first time my system  had superior sound quality vs every system there, this was one of those peak experience days when I finally felt as though I had reached the heights. And then you hear better systems and the journey continues.

Comparing our own systems to some reference is in fact a competition. It may be all about equipment for some, for others it may be mostly or entirely about reaching some reference for sound quality. The fact reaching for some reference for sound quality may be considered a noble goal is fine, but don't fool yourself this is not competitive in some sense.