I used to lust after a Decca Decola back in the early hi-fi days. Priced at about £400. A lot of money at the time.
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And I beg to disagree further 
There are as many definitions of perfect sound repro as there are listeners. We start off on a path thinking that it will lead to nirvana, only to find that it doesn’t. Then we find another. And each anticipated perfect system has to be within our available budgets, which also change over time. Talk about a moving target…
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In Buddhism, the Pali word dukkha refers to what might be thought of as ‘the general unsatisfactoriness of all things’.
Sadly, this even applies to Naim gear. Such is the flawed human condition that your brand new NAC252 – yes, the the object from which currently springs forth an abundance of life affirming pleasure – will in time become unsatisfactory and even a source of resentment and suffering.
To escape this painful cycle of Samsara, one must commit to deep contemplation of the intrinsic nature of impermanence.
Or alternatively a pre-loved NAC552.
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Every so often I have the experience of listening to some music on my system and having a sense of transcendence — maybe a brief ecstatic high, being profoundly moved, or feeling so transported that time seems to stand still*. These experiences tend to happen more frequently as your system improves. I don’t believe there’s an ultimate system out there that is so good that it has these experiences on tap — too many other factors in play — but the correlation is there.
The contrary tendency is that every upgrade becomes your baseline, and what was fantastic a year ago is merely normal today. The first principle motivates me to upgrade, the second tells me to put a limit on it, especially as there are other demands on my wallet.
* I had just such an experience yesterday, listening to Shālimār, an album of solo piano music by Alan Hovhaness.
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Or moving destination?
I guess for some people at least it’s like a never ending world cruise, stopping off to see different places with periods of standard ship life between, sometimes calm and sometimes stormy.
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Indeed… 
I’m not convinced The recording engineer, in the recording studio, was listening through a fairly particular set of components. What they heard, and intended, might come out of any set of high end HiFi a bit differently. Even if “just” speaker positioning changes, I bet there are differences.
A high end setup might get a heck of a lot closer to what was intended, but I suspect you wouldn’t be very far into high end territory before the HiFi was demonstrably better than the amp and speaker chain the engineer used. Not sure what that means for the debate about how close to the recording a system can get, but it makes conclusions difficult!
I suspect everyone here is a music lover. But not all music lovers are into their gear, or can afford to be. The person I know who’s most emotionally attached to their music bumps along from one UC payment to the next. I definitely feel it’s a privilege to have the gear I have, and optimise it around my budget. That optimisation process is definitely enjoyable! As is spending an evening just listening to the music
Another aspect, fear of missing out, i.e. what if my existing system isn’t performing as well as it might, not getting everything possible out of that 552. Maybe add a silver plated cable, or get the cable off the floor, or put everything on a fraim…… Dreading the unused capacity of what you have already
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The question perhaps is: close to what?
I think there is quite a big a difference between trying to achieve sound like in a music studio, or like in a live venue.
Studio engineers mainly use active nearfield monitors and headphones, they listen to hifi speakers and amplifiers sparingly during production.
Live venues use PA-systems, which often comprise horn speakers (similar to the Klipsch Cornwall speakers mentioned earlier in the thread) and large bass drivers / subwoofers.
A home hifi set with a pair of full range speakers like most of us use here, is pretty far removed from either scenario, it’s a compromise that is flexible for multiple use cases but is not optimal for one in particular.
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Yeah, that really was the general idea I was trying to put across, thank you for putting it better
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I would describe it as a journey with some rest stops along the way. The duration of the rest stops is dependent on a few factors - satisfaction with my system, cash in hand, my other hobbies and interests and where I am on these journeys and new equipment launches that catch my eye. I’ve recently upgraded from a 300DR to 500DR as I was sure it would drive my speakers with a little more authority - it does! So, right now I am in a rest stop which I suspect will last for a few years minimum. Beyond this, who knows… I have a full loom SL, but do wonder if the new Chord Burndys would lift it further. There’s always the option of a second 555PS for the ND555, or even a S1 Pre. I’m well into the territory where the law of diminishing returns kicks in, so I may well leave things where they are and explore other interests until the inevitable itch returns.
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Changes in technology are my biggest threat to contentment. CD’s brought their challenges as new models of players were introduced with ever increasing price points. But that was nothing when compared with the current digital era where I suspect, like computers, there will be continual technical development (and large depreciation on the old tech eg NDS) and the accompanying components of switches, ethernet cables, storage solutions, etc, etc. Upgraditus is alive and kicking with renewed vigour!
Peter
Not so sure - high end studios use high end audio equipment - and many top hifi loudspeaker manufacturers make their premium models available for the recording industry. Sure if you want to go lofi - or bedroom studio - then its a different consideration.
Yes a sound or mix engineer may prefer a certain sound and feel for an artist or album - and yes a good audio replay system can reveal these choices.
In many modern productions there is much digital processing and almost certainly that will colour the original recordings - and a good system can often reveal the limitations of this. I actually quite enjoy listening to these aspects. The other consideration is that most mic’d vocals are heavily processed - this helps create an often more intense and emotional audio - so a good system allows you to more closely hear the output of the processing, mix and mastering - rather than the recording itself.
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I am nearly at the end of my journey, I am more than happy to stick at my current destination and enjoy the music, the journey has been an interesting one and I had always had my current system as the end point
Do I feel short changed that I will never own 552 /500 – in no way, I am happy say the music more than reaches my sole and to kick back and play an album on either or my sources is a joy
If my number or moreover my pensions comes up in a few years – who knows so until then as the great John Miles sang – MUSIC WAS MY FIRST LOVE AND IT WILL BE MY LAST
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I’ve mainly enjoyed the journey, a few wrong turns excepted. I’m hopefully getting to my destination with a recent flurry of purchases to bring the amp and speakers up towards the standard of my superb head-fi setup.
Once it’s all in place and on system pics I’ll be disappearing from the Forum for a while and enjoying it, upgraditis is very ccontagious 
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