How did you choose your equipment?

Visiting your local audio retailer: Honestly, how many of us do this anymore

Call me old fashioned 😞

I did order my DAC from Schiit, because the writeups and price made a compelling case.

But I find there is no substitute for letting your ears be the judge.

I either arrange an in home audition, or go armed with my cables, all of them. Even took my amp to one store when buying my current speakers 😊

Regards

@williewonka  "Visiting your local audio retailer: Honestly, how many of us do this anymore"  How great would it be if there actually were brick and mortar stores around.  It used to be fun to just drop by a local audio salon and browse with eyes and ears.  As an example to highlight this....  my latest purchase, Vandersteen Treo CT speakers required a 6 hour round trip jaunt to the nearest Vandersteen dealer.  Fifteen years ago I purchased my model 3 Vandys at a dealer 15 minutes away!  Sadly, many local dealers either did not have the interested population to support their existence or some overextended themselves with the advent of home theater, building too big, too elaborate and again did not have sufficient volume to pay the bills.

Again, I'm with you about visiting a local dealer, but only if those local dealers exist.  Otherwise you have to rely on reviews of both professional reviewers and anecdotal testimonials, and importantly, manufacturer's reputations.  I have owned Vandersteens for about 30  years.  I bought the Treo CT because I trust Richard's designs and after the TAS review which supported my experience with Vandys, I was totally set on that purchase.  Fortunately, I am totally satisfied.

Hifiman - I consider myself very fortunate - in the 15-30 minute travel radius  of where I live there are around 6 stores that sell mid and high-end gear, with a wide variety of products and knowledgeable and friendly staff. An extra 15 minutes and I can double that number - hi-fi seems to be popular in Toronto.

My relationship to many of them affords me the privilege of in-store  auditions of specific requested setups.and one store has allowed an in-home audition, with others offering the service.

Not all of my gear is purchased in this manner - many things, like Arms and  various turntable upgrades, were purchased  via the web after consultation with friends and/or store owners. But in general, for "components" I tend to visit the stores.

But I have experienced lemons after an in-store purchase, so I do not consider the in-store approach infallible.

I tend to stay away from reviews - but If I do use them it's to get a "general impression" and may seek out the reviewed component at one of my local stores for audition purposes. but I never rely solely on a review.

OI've had a few internet "leaps of faith" and the one success was my Schiit Bifrost DAC. After reading so many positive reviews and at sporting such a reasonable price tag how could one go wrong?. But the journey to get it to the performance level I now enjoy has been a long one that required a lot of  research on the web.

My two big purchases (amp and speakers) were serendipitous, in that I just happened to be in the store, probably looking at other stuff like albums, and heard something very special - that doesn't happen too often (fortunately)

The other reason I go to the store - to compare sound of what I have to something better and generally much higher priced - I tend to walk away feeling very satisfied with my system.

And those other times when I'm no so satisfied? - well,  the price tag usually brings me back to planet earth. :-)

Until I win the lottery...

Regards...

@williewonka   I am jealous!  Way to go Toronto.  As a recently retired audiophile I would love to have all of those stereo shops to visit.  Living in the Amish country of southcental PA I don't expect an audiophile Renaissance to occur here anytime soon.  ugh