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This is an excellent thread, and even though we all have slightly different tastes and motivations, for the most part we can understand where everyone is coming from.
First and foremost, I enjoy the restoration process itself, especially electronic restoration (although I do some cabinet refinishing and restoration as well). Once the sets are done, I watch them a bit from time to time. I actually watch very little TV overall, so it's possible that about 20% of my total TV watching time is watching one of the old restored sets in my office. Easily another 20% of my total TV watching time is watching a set on the bench that is currently under restoration.
As far as accumulating a lot of sets, I've really started to move away from that direction. I've seen way too many huge collections that appear to serve no purpose, and end up being a real disposal problem after the owner passes away. I have something like 15 sets now, and I don't want that number to increase any further.
In recent years, rather than accumulating more sets for myself, I've been doing more restorations for other people (lots of radios, but some TVs too). A simple listing on the CHRS club website ended up bringing me more business than I could deal with (on the order of 1-2 sets per week), so I recently pulled the listing and now I just do it for repeat customers and a few people who somehow figure out I like to do this. This has gotten it down to a few per month, which is manageable.
I've also started selling some of my TVs on Radio Attic. Shipping TVs is pretty high risk, but I think I've got a pretty good method of packing, and as far as I can tell, all customers have been happy so far.
Selling a few allows me to pick up a set here and there. If I come across something exceptional, like the CT-100 I'm restoring now, I'll keep it. Most others are now sets I pick up with an eye toward selling on Radio Attic when they're done.
For now, this seems to be a workable balance that allows me to keep enjoying the restoration process without accumulating too many sets that I don't need. And I do enjoy watching the sets that I have kept. All my sets are working, and I have basically no interest in having a set that does not work.
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