Wasted Years.

I was lucky enough with a very low budget to be in the obligation to  learn the basics instead of "buying" my pleasure from always costlier upgrades...

The most difficult part in term of gear :  Almost all low cost dac had no timbre naturalness...The last one i bought is in the trash bin ... It cost me 150 Us.

I stick to my SPS TDA 1543...

To upgrade it will cost me the price of my actual system..(1000 bucks)

Anyway i am pleased with it...

A simple rule is to keep design gear value proportionate ...You dont buy 1000 bucks cable for active low cost speakers...

I upgraded my active  speakers cable anyway (35 Us ) and it was very well done and very audible...

There is no wasted years only wasted money...

With age, taste (in music) also changes, and so do our listening habits. I find it funny that we are discussing this. Each of us came to this site for a reason. While music is our primary driver, I am an audiophile because I would like to listen to the music I love, in highest quality I can afford. If not, I would have purchased a Bluetooth soundbar and be happy. No wasted years for me; just building my experience for future and what is possible.

Wonder if we can ask an AI agent to find the % of threads here that discuss equipment Vs music. 

Continues to baffle me how audiophiles seem to want to deny they are in fact audiophiles. I know I'm going to repeat myself. But why on earth would I want to deny I listen to the sound quality or qualities produced by this system I spent so much effort and funds to amass? I absolutely notice and admire very certain and specific sonic presentations offered by various recordings. And I also experience the same sensations with the wide variability of presentations I can achieve by mixing and matching my various amps pre's, dacs. I can both chew gum and walk simultaneously, why should I deny myself the pleasures of sonic excellence.

This thread made me think of a couple of Mark Twain quotes which are. "Good decisions come from experience. Experience comes from making bad decisions" and the second one, "it ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so". I thought these were relevant. Enjoy the music

A solid system should be able to make the music come to life and I agree that musicality and realism should be more important than things like resolution and perfect playback.

I've also found myself in the trap of listening just for sound purposes.  It is part of our minds getting into habits when we are auditioning gear and trying to find what sounds the best.

Best advice I can give you, which I give to myself, is if you find yourself listening more to the sound than the music, take a deep breath in and out while trying to focus on nothing but the music itself.  Then do that again.  If you get distracted, let that thought pass and continue to breath and listen to the heart and soul of the music, stretching your mind into it until you become totally entranced.

This can be done at any point during one's audiophile journey.  Breathe and let the music speak.