If high end audio was $10 and match box sized


If everyone had the same perfect sound quality via a cheap small box that sat on the shelf that somehow streamed, amplified, and emitted stereo sound to your ears, would you prefer it that way or do you love having an imperfect system and enjoy the chase and tweaking.
mid-fi-crisis
Frank, very good choice to transport Sarah. Perhaps Sylvia for some Pillow Talk, if it were that easy ... HA
As long as there was imaging, like listening through a two channel speaker system, I'd be all over the $10 device.
Absolutely not, I enjoy tinkering just like I like working on my own cars. I have brand new loudspeakers and I already have the interfaces apart cooking up modifications to make them work the way I want.
Being an audiophile is frequently called a "hobby." For most it is just a leisurely pastime.  For people like lewm who is not at all scared to attack his equipment with a soldering iron and designs his own amplifiers it is a hobby for sure.

I do wish everyone who loves music could afford a first class system. There is a lot of excellent relatively inexpensive gear out there now so it is easier than ever. One huge advantage of digital reproduction that is not frequently discussed is the availability of high quality inexpensive sources It is much easier and cheaper to build a 1st class digital system than an analog one. I have heard $50 DACs do an amazing job considering to cost. The one area this all falls apart is with loudspeakers. But, in saving a lot of money on the front end give you more to spend on speakers....
douglas, a little larger than matchbox but you cannot have everything.
Shows that a pleasing sound can be obtained even from a 1,5" driver if the design is correct. I bet someone in Sony had the freedom to make it,  did not sell in volumes, and most likely taken from another project at that time.
I like it.

G
I don't think that there are many of us here who would trade in the fascinating parade of gear that has been in and out of our systems over the years, or especially, all of the joy and knowledge that we experienced along the way. 
I know that I would never trade that for anything. It still gives me a thrill today.
You don't have to have a rack full of equipment for good sound. You need a source, an integrated amp, and a pair of loudspeakers. You can spend as little or as much as you want but it doesn't have to take over your house or your life (unless you want it to).
I want a teleporter that beams music groups from the past into my listening environment. Can you imagine this fine lady showing up with her trio for your evening enjoyment??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNcSFjsBJtk&ab_channel=RoundMidnightTV
Why choose Perfect when we already can  have Imperfect?? Just get a Magic Wand!
Only if it had a couple of tubes to roll resulting in my own personal perfect sound, which is better than your perfect sound.  ;-)

Interesting question. I need to think about it.

How would folks answer this question:

If you had a magic replicator (like the one on Star Trek) would you stop cooking your food and simply ask the computer for whatever you wanted?

Most of us hate to cook all the time and we don’t like doing the dishes, but would we want all that to be gone?

Your question is really interesting because it presumes that we need to recapture the time we spend on our gear. But what would we do with that extra time? My guess is we’d probably just waste it.

It also presumes that those of us who struggled and achieved something with our systems -- the knowledge and experience we gained -- are things we don't prize for their own sake. But I'm glad to have gotten that education. It's something I'm proud of.

The journey, man, the journey.
Give me the the small box so I can get off this merry go round and maybe I could buy a classic motorcycle with what I have saved.
Can we have both?...:-) I'll take a third option too. AND a perfect system to boot.. Why stop at two...

Regards