I’d say I’m in the first camp. My idea is to balance the quality of components within the budget I set. To me, it makes less sense to go all-out on one piece of equipment and then play it through the rest of the system that is much more compromised. I see others here take the same route as me, wanting to upgrade the weak link in their system rather than an entire overhaul.
I figure I have a lot of room to grow, given the imperfect listening room, indecision on what room treatments would help, not having dedicated lines to power my equipment (I need to clear out a lot of junk, including another’s stuff, before the electrician could access the panel). I haven’t tried special fuses or stones, or springs— I figure those things are a lesser priority to the things I already mentioned.
I find there are times when I most enjoy low-level, mellow listening sessions and fewer times when I play at 80 db, or even 70 db. I only listen loud in my car, where I look to rock out rather than mellow out.