Older and wiser? I'd say these days, go with your subjective response to what you listen to.

If I had my time again? I'd have stuck with the system I had ten years ago until now. (It worked nicely, though there was a fault with the amp that has been the cause of my subsequent undoings.) In other words, find something you can live with, enjoy the music, enjoy life, bring up the little ones if you have any, and then in your forties, if you still feel the need, go for the system that will end it all. By now, if you're lucky, you know who you are (a bit), what you like and maybe even what you want. Sell what you have. Find a good dealer, fill him in on the details (but don't tell him what your system was before!), get him to demonstrate as many different kinds of sytem as you need, and buy the one you end up liking, lock stock and barrel, then never read another HiFi mag or frequent a forum like this.

In trying, first of all to find out what was wrong with the amp, I've gone down several "wrong" paths, done it all in bits, and am now too financially committed to what I've got. It works, it sometimes sounds very good, but ...

So by all means work out what you want, but wait a bit before committing lots of money - you change. Then go with your feelings.

Good for you!