If there’s an audiophile exit ramp, this ain’t it…

@redwoodaudio & others, one thing you could try that might be therapeutic is entering your music media into a collection on discogs.com.
I've just completed this project which kept me busy for a few months, doing a bit most evenings.  While initially a tedious process, I emerged with many takeaways:
- Wow, my collection is worth far more than I expected
- Which albums/artists are highly valued and in demand vs. under-appreciated
- An insurance valuation 
- A reminder of some great albums that deserve more listens
- Some surprising revelations & reminders about who played on & helped make various recordings
- A better understanding of mysterious dead wax etchings & stampings
- Realization of numerous multiple copies that could be purged/sold
- A portable tool for Wishlists and to avoid buying albums I already have

Cheers,
Spencer

If you looking for perfection, you will never find it....especially here.New stuff comes out ,and new performances of perfection begin again.Just try and be Happy....

I have almost always maintained that once you reach whatever you consider as perfection and have no interest in moving forward, it is no longer a hobby. Whatever it is becomes a possession that you use but no longer strive to work with and further perfect. I think a hobby is something that occupies your time, your involvement and your interest to move forward with whatever the endeavor happens to be. A stamp collector that no longer collects stamps is no longer a stamp collector but rather becomes a person with a stamp collection.

@pmiller115

I have almost always maintained that once you reach whatever you consider as perfection and have no interest in moving forward, it is no longer a hobby. Whatever it is becomes a possession that you use but no longer strive to work with and further perfect. I think a hobby is something that occupies your time, your involvement and your interest to move forward with whatever the endeavor happens to be. A stamp collector that no longer collects stamps is no longer a stamp collector but rather becomes a person with a stamp collection.

what you say above is doubtlessly correct

as a point of discussion though, one can justifiably debate whether hifi (the gear) is the hobby, or whether music (the content) is the hobby -- in the latter case one can get off the equipment merry go round and still experience much joy in searching out new music, new performances ...

probably DIY will help ignore a lot of bought positive reviews .But it will take a lot of time- learning,patience and consistency building your own systemOther way forget reviews ,listen stereo systems in shows or shops ,trying to find what kind of sound you like the most