Spend Money On Music As Much As You Do On Hardware

I do see where people spend enormous sums on gear but balk at spending $9.99/mo for streaming service that has millions of tracks available, radio, playlist creation, etc. Doesn't make sense to me either. It might have something to do with music not being a material commodity that can be acquired in a consumerist way. Lot of audiophiles turn their consumerism into a "hobby" and I've been guilty of doing that myself. Folks have a tendency to identify so strongly with what they consume and the perceived status symbol appeal. You can't show off your streaming subscription to Spotify the same way you can an ugly $250k D'agostino Relentless amplifier. Then you have some audiophiles that substitute human relationships with their products or favorite audio brands. My gear is better than your gear aka I'm better than you, also reigns a lot in consumer forums. The line between entertainment, information, marketing, promotions and so on continues to blur. None of us are immune to it. Heck the millennial generation is the first who were being marketed to before they were even born. I'm an American, so I live to consume. Might as well embrace what I am.

Before I became an audiophile equipment addict, where my only desire is to get that next gear fix (to quote @rlow ), I would spend an absurd amount of money on CDs not even caring about upgrading my audio playback components. I'd easily spend $300 for a limited Japanese release SHM-CD of a favorite album just to have a better quality master. Somehow I could hear the improvements on whatever budget soundsystem/headphones I was using at the time. No care in the world for USB cables, power strips, DACs, amps, etc.

The paradox to assembling together super resolving systems is that albums I derived pleasure from just sound like shit now because it's almost impossible to ignore how poorly recorded or mastered they are. Like I can only listen to DJ Shadow's Endtroducing on a pair of KSC75s because it sounds so wrong on anything else. But then the opposite is also true. Great recordings sound even better with higher quality components, where now they are simply unlistenable on say a pair of Bose computer speakers. This is what hijacks my addict brain in thinking there seems to be a limitless ceiling to how much sound information I can pull from certain albums, so the desire to upgrade is always there. It's not just more resolution, but like music has more "life" to it. More energy, enthusiasm, gusto.

I have thought about having a second system that doesn't attempt to be so "reference"-like in quality. Like something that makes everything sound good. It might not be the most accurate or faithful but makes bad recordings still sound pleasing.

I don't know man, in my case it is very hard to go back to something lesser. I've tried seriously downgrading my stereo setup to something you could find at your local Best Buy. More modest and humble. Problem was all I could hear was everything that was lost by downgrading. I guess being an audiophile isn't a blessing, it's both a bane and benefit.

I can only imagine how folks like Robert Christgau felt when he was a critic at The Village Voice. How often could he go back to enjoying music he rated highly instead of being forced to listen to a new Tori Amos album because it was his job?