Sooner or later you’ve sunk thousands of dollars into it.

Yep. Though I will argue that, at least for me, it's so, so worth it. Music is a gift that never stops giving. If there's one thing in my home that will ALWAYS put a smile on my face, it's my dac/amp stack and my favorite cans. That's priceless, imo. Very few other items that I own can do this.