What Matters and What is Nonsense

Good discussion except for the occasional silly snark. The OP opinion/style seems fine to me. Personally I (also) have a strong background in EE as well as being a musician This informs my opinions but doesn't make me The Oracle obviously. . Reasonable but limited funds for audio. For me the most fun is had getting the most sound for my dollar and "sweat equity" as well as learning along the way. So I recap and adjust bias on old equipment and consider tweaks as they come along based on my interest, the cost and the fun factor. I am predisposed to being skeptical to things that seem to violate laws of physics. I understand and do not denigrate the human nature of expected outcomes. To me certain claims seem more like belief systems akin to religion or the Paranormal etc, which is also a big part of the human condition.  Nothing wrong with that as long as not hurting other people.  I think it is valid for "skeptics" to warn other interested parties, which is part of what this forum is about, that, based on science and/or experience, certain claims SEEM improbable to them, preferably without insulting others beliefs and experiences. The reader can decide if such arguments are convincing to them, or not, as they can do for the comments by those with other perspectives.
I tend to work toward a sound that makes my classical and acoustic heroes and folk-rock, sound most realistic, usually involves a mandolin violin and/or a female vocal. The process is a big part of the fun, obvious I know to most of you.
Choosing and placing/adjusting speakers and modding the room when possible is productive and fun.(Walked into a showroom expecting to buy KEF's, walked out with Rega RS3 speakers because the seller correctly though they might do better for what I told him I was after) Re-doing the guts of older electronics is fun and sometimes musically  productive, always educational. I like to solder.
I have tried hard to hear differences in speaker cables and can't.

A quality SVS sub helped refine the sound in a big way. Not miraculous, or jaw dropping, just better. I never notice "phase" or "crossover" issues affecting musical enjoyment. And the individual parts are easier to move around for this old back. (Compared to ginormous main speakers)

Ultimately the best way to get the best acoustic sound is to play it yourself with pals, and/or see it live in a "sound friendly" environment.
I got as much "emotional support" and almost as much aesthetic pleasure from recorded music when I was younger and broker as I do now.
Enjoy the ride because soon, you know, we will all be dead.

(and maybe someone else will a get our stuff in a killer deal at auction and carry it on!)

As an addendum, I read the Daniel Drasin referenced by Geof. I appreciate the link and the perspective. It seems to try a little too hard to debunk the debunkers. Most of us and especially those of us in science and medicine know that last years  impossibility is this years fact and sometimes vice versa. BUT the bar is, and should be pretty high to support unlikely or unique claims.  So issues of reproduciblity especially by those who have no financial or profound personal stake in the results is important as is a potential theoretical framework, or at the very least lack of a violation of well established fundamental laws of physics. Sure you can propose those violations also but it helps to be a genius.  A good skeptic DOES listen to and consider unusual  or unlikely proposals and experiences but is fair for them to be...rational and...skeptical.

There has never been an audiophile tweak that was found to be a hoax or a fraud. Obviously there have been some preposterous ones, I won’t hot dog you about that. We already know blinding testing is not going to reveal the hoaxes. Nor is science or medicine or mathematics. Why? Because many audiophile tweaks are out of reach as it were of textbook explanations. Thus it’s becoming more and more difficult to figure out just what the heck laws of science have been broken here OR how to measure it. Here are some examples of what I’m talking about. Silver Rainbow Foil, the Tice Clock, Ultra Tweeters, fuse directionality, The Teleportation Tweak, Mpingo disc, Marigo Dots, demagetizing CDs, demagnetizing LPs, isolating solid state amps, the Red X Pen, Morphic Message Foils, the Original Intelligent Chip.

Thanks Craig159. I might try those Herbie Feet as my wood floor is quite uneven and the spikes on small wood slabs method is a pain to keep in place and level. And if improves my detail or imaging, great!
And I am leaning to switching from AIMP to JRiver as Media Player. I play ripped discs from PC to Schiit Bitfrost in one set up. Seemed like a pretty good way to get "pretty darned good" sound for rational money. But I am not sure if I am getting the best version of output bits from the PC. Will be interesting if I can "hear" any difference from playback software assuming "flat" settings.