I was away from quality stereo equipment for about a long time since having received a Pioneer receiver, large advent loudspeakers, a used Sony reel-to-reel tape deck and Garrard turntable as gifts from my parents when I was a teen in the early 1970’s. I enjoyed that equipment but gradually got away from it by the 1980’s. I was working, married, didn’t have much money and bought an inexpensive all-in-one in the mid-1980’s. I bought some gear in the 1990’s that was on a similar level to what I had as a teen, and for years that was good enough.
It wasn’t until 2020, when I was single again and could do anything I wanted, that I got into higher quality equipment. I didn’t have much access to hear audiophile equipment, so I read a lot of reviews and comments. I also had a limited budget, and that certainly shaped my thinking. I see that a lot of members here got equipment after visiting high-end music dealers and trusting in the advice of the sales people. I think that is why I don’t have the exotic gear that many here own. I have a more basic system, it sounds good to me, and I don’t have anything to compare it to. I’m not one to keep chasing a sound — my room alone limits what a system can do, so I don’t see need to spend tens of thousands of dollars.