Getting into the music

This side of audiophilia can border on OCD tendencies. And that obviously is not a good thing. Good luck to you, music is still the most important thing. The easiest way to get everything to sound better to your ears regardless of the quality of recording is equalizing. I use a Puffin and a Loki Max. That may help in returning to your love of music.

Thank you all for your very compassionate responses.
The problem is I’ve gotten to the point where I enjoy listening to my system so much it’s hard to turn back. I have these “manic” episodes when I relish the sound alone. Like right now I’m appreciating my newish analog setup for the first time and I’m going through a myriad of records comparing their SQ to before I had the new setup. This is pleasurable it itself.  And I do get into the music somewhat.
Conversely there are times I realize I’m not really enjoying the music for itself and the listening for sound becomes a negative and shallow pursuit.
I’m not sure if I’m too far gone.

Anyway thanks so much for your help!

The goal is to let the system get out of the way of the music, as much as possible, and then focus on the music itself. 

I suffered the same manic obsession because i was hating my old system...

The problem is not in the developping of the analytical side of the brain , the problem is not in our way of hearing ; the problem is that we now know that the sound acoustic factors are not right and are unbalanced ...

The only way i discovered toward the solution was hard, but efficient and low cost  ... It was mandatory for me to  retrieve musical  ectasy and forgotting sound and at the same time appreciating it with the musicians playing ...

Learning how to embed a system mechanically, electrically and acoustically was the solution  .... Especially learning acoustics concepts and here i spoke about acoustics in general not room acoustic only ...

Doing so   with a low cost system is possible even if a low cost system  could reach not the upper most higher level of sound  for sure but  it can pass over what i called the minimal acoustic satisfaction treshold... This concept does not even exist in audio threads where all is defined by price tags more than by real acoustic concepts by the way  ...

How many are able to describe the acoustic concept of immersiveness and his many conditions ? This concept not only exist but with it clearly understoood you can experiment in your room ...

The good news is a very good system can give astonishing acoustic experience under 1000 bucks as mine ; the bad news is that i dont know how to do it in a clean living room at low cost especially ...😁

When you reach "immersiveness" , sound convey music and you listen in heaven without any need to analyse anymore... Timbre is satisfying etc .... You are there in your own way with a synergetical system nevermind the cost...Acoustic laws, mechanical good embeddings controlling vibrations, electrical good noise ratio principles and problems dont change because the system price is higher ...

For example , the porthole of any pair of speakers as mine , which are low cost, or way costlier one will need to be redesigned probably as mine was in need to be redesigned ... The neck of a Helmholtz resonators efficient in a resonant room cannot be a mere hole and his dimension is a ratio where one of the factor is not zero optimally because Helmholtz resonators works with a volume relating to a neck and the neck or multiple necks connected to the volume  must be computed or/ and  designed by ears mechanically 😁...

No small  speakers designer for example will sell a porthole extending on your desk with a bundle of tubes near 2 feet behind with various dimensions for many of them and they will not dare to ask you after creating this horror big money for it ... At best they will design the porthole inside in a bigger speaker box  and hidden but instead of the 100 bucks i paid for my 4 inches woofer speakers they will ask for many thousand dollars for the same sound level quality ...I could had spoke about crosstalk mechanical control instead of immersiveness or Helmholtz resonators or i could had spoke about the way the reverberation time  in a small room can be used etc ...Read acoustics and forgot useless reviews of hyped products ...

Music is to sound what the beautiful expressing soul gesture of a beautiful woman speaking and walking is to his proportionated balanced body ...

some music I prefer on secondary system, some in car...