Hey Paul,
I started my journey--with focus--about 10 years ago...after i finished working on "Avatar" in New Zealand back in Dec. 2009.
Know that your journey is one of discovery on many fronts, so enjoy it!
You do not have to spend a lot of money to get excellent sound reproduction. Do your research, start with top-of-the-line vintage gear (20 yrs old or so, or even older) and work your way forward in time as you can afford it.
*Note: Find a good Tech/Repair shop and be good to them. You will call upon them often.
As an example, I have put together a system that is killer by 1999-2005 standards and at a fraction of original costs. Sprinkle in contemporary digital gear and you are good to go.
Clean power and balanced power designs (and interconnects) are worth while. Seek them out. Many will say that they are not necessary for the short runs one has in a stereo setup, but so far, I prefer balanced over unbalanced.
Simple well constructed cabling and interconnects will be fine. Look at what professionals use in studio as guide. I am currently using Mogami or similar designs/constructions.
Be careful with tubes. You can spend a lot of time and money with tube gear and unlike Solid State, tubes start to age as soon as you power up the device using them. And with my OCD i don't want to worry about counting hours or testing tubes all the time.
If you need/like tubes, try to keep them to your preamp. Find a preamp that promises 5-10 years of playback on one set of tubes. You can play around with adding them to your sources (tubed based digital players/streamers, phono pres, etc) but lemmetellya, get a DAC that is itself designed for high fidelity purposes. Don't skimp on the DAC.
Also don't worry about MQA or DSD too much. DSD is worth it sometimes due to the fact that some of the better mastering and restoration jobs are available in DSD/SACD. Just find a player that can decode some DSD but can output PCM for your DAC.
A good system doesn't 'reveal limitations' (god i hate when audio snobs say this), a good system lets you enjoy your music the way you want to enjoy it.
There is no museum out there to tell us what any recording is 'supposed' to sound like. It is our unique responsibility, privilege and joy as audiophiles to create our own museums or churches of sound, to illuminate to the best of our ability the history recorded in sound found on any/all formats.
Also don't let anyone tell you "that's a bad recording." Any recoding is a gift. We should cherish each expression captured and preserved for us and be humbled at its re-experiencing.
Reach out if you need a guide. This forum is a great resource as is Steve Hoffmans site.
Be well and rock on!
:-)
-brett
