Do you share your system with other audiophiles?
Yes.
I am always proud and enthusiastic to let fellow audiophiles hear my system. There have only been a few exceptions over the years when my system was in "limbo" waiting for the next already planned upgrade. Now I'm done anyway, so I always welcome visitors.
Our group of "Boston audiophiles" have visited each other frequently (pre-Covid that is, and hopefully again sometime). We are learning a lot from one another, and speaking for myself, I would never have been able to assemble without these friends and their precious advice and criticism a system of the tremendous quality that I now enjoy. Thank you guys!
Sure, sometimes criticism and being made aware of shortcomings hurts. And sometimes hearing better aspects of sound in another system can be not just exciting, but also challenging. But I think if you are very aware of your own personal priorities of music reproduction and not get distracted away from them, and you have the attitude that
a) you tend to look more at the virtues than at the shortcomings of your system
b) you are at peace with yourself that perfection is simply never achieved and that any system is inherently a compromise
you can only learn from all the encounters. Sometimes you can learn a tremendous amount that is very beneficial for your upgrade path, or for addressing problems with room or set-up.
You also have to leave room for the fact that tastes differ. I have had instances not only where my fellow audiophiles did not like particular aspects of my sound that I loved, but also the opposite, where they were very enthusiastic about certain things when I was in a "meh" mood about them. Similar with me, when I visited others' systems.
In that vein, if you think that you can ever assemble a system that not just satisfies you, but also everyone who visits, better shed the delusion. It's not going to happen, because it's human nature that individual tastes are always bound to differ, and you just have to take it in stride. It wouldn't even happen if you would throw all the money in the world at a system. So what? The important thing is that your system satisfies you.
I am now at a place where I know that my system does many things tremendously well but, also fueled by my exposure to other systems, I have a keen sense of my system's shortcomings as well, which are in my view much fewer than its considerable virtues. While I am aware of the shortcomings when I think about them, they don't bother me. I am extraordinarily satisfied with what I have achieved, with the amount of money that I spent. I know that I would have to spend an enormous amount of money to address the few shortcomings, and trying to address the issues would open up other problems, that's just the way it is. Also, I would need a considerably larger room than I have, in order to seriously tackle a few issues, and I can't afford such a room because I just can't afford the house that would have to go with it (real estate in the Greater Boston area is very expensive).
Yet I have given up on silly dreams, and instead I thoroughly enjoy what I have. I'm just a happy audiophile, what can I say? And I am more than happy to share my enthusiasm with others.