My pivotal experience was as a child in the late 50s, listening to my parents 78 records on a monophonic console system with built in phonograph and radio of course.
I would lie on the floor with my head centered under the only speaker and listen to record after record. I didn't become a gear junkie until I started earning money and reading the mail order supply mags. I've been upgrading that experience ever since only to be basically "done" now as I hit retirement.
The systems I bought started in late high school, followed by a number of incremental changes over the span of many decades. My current system starting from scratch once again, has taken about 6 years to sound the way I've always wanted. Barring component failure or my life cut short, this should be my longest held system. I seek nothing further at this point other than adding to my music collection.