Musical (In)sanity

I tried to do the same last year. Digitising records (or just duplicating my records via CD or iTunes) and trying to minimise gear. For a while it really worked well, allowing me to use my MacBook Pro or iPod as a source, fed into a combination DAC-amp. The simplicity certainly had me listening to more music and the kids enjoyed having their own playlists they could access (7 and 4 years old). However, after a while I realised that I'd stopped sitting down to listen and instead had an almost constant stream of background music in the house. And when I DID sit down for some special time I invariably felt just a bit let down at the sterile nature of it all. What I craved was equipment that would immerse me in music again.
So, I started looking for bargains that were also musically involving and I stopped looking for hi-fi. So I suppose, in the end, that the abandonment of multiple boxes for a single box solution was the kick I needed to realise that simplicity and value is possible. Then I came full circle back to vinyl, CD, radio, separate amps, etc. it's just the the "value" part was more important than ever.
I've ended up with a system that sucks me in and gets me through a whole album, leaving me SATISFIED. It sounds better and was cheaper than anything else I've owned (save the one box). The one box solution sits under the telly for the use of kids and family movies. Everyone happy.
Mick.