Number of yrs. to reach the finished line?

Listening to music is a great experience , but if It wasn't for tinkering with my system or the systems of other club members I think I would lose interest quickly . Shouldn't a hobby be ongoing . Improving things and then listening for improvements or changes is fun , educational and highly entertaining , for me .
We often swap components , cables , cords or something with other members temporarily so the cost is usually nile and if you learn something it may save you money in the long run .

I know that everyone is different, in both what they listen for in music, why they listen to music and as you said, the fun of experimenting with different components.

But I listen to escape and relax, and I'm 57 and have been actively buying and upgrading since I hit college. That's forty years, and a lot of different components and a lot of money.

I'm finally at the point where I want to enjoy my music without wondering what's next, because what's next is getting ready to retire.

Chuck

At some point you would have to change the listening room and possibly the house. How many of us would go that far?
Even now my modest $7.5k in used prices system would sound much better if I could move it to a better room which I cannot do. But that wouldn't stop me from upgrading. Though my stereo is not a true hi-fi yet it is very sensitive to even small changes; that's good to keep the hobby going. It is not at all only about music, it is also very much about the sound as we all know.

Inna , your almost right . When the wife mentioned she had found a house with a pool and that we would be moving , my first and only question was , is the living room symetrical .

This is funny, I just thought about this idea and then i ran across this thread. It took about 20 years for me.