Buying Without Audition

Larstusor-

Your ears are your own best guide and decision maker.
I,too, do not have any Audio representation in my immediate areas.
If you must road-trip it, then do so. The experience is wonderful and you will audition the gear of interest. Audio shows, now back in heavy rotation, are another excellent point.

Keep me posted & Happy Listening!

Sometimes you just have to jump in with both feet and take your chances. This isn’t as crazy as it sounds. I’ve come to learn that it takes weeks to figure out how I really feel about a speaker - you have to listen to it with all types of music material.   And your own personal physiological state will help determine, in no small part, how music will sound to you.   A pair of speakers may leave different impressions on you, depending if you're tired, or fresh, in a good mood, a bad mood, stressed, relaxed, etc.  A three-hour audition at a dealer is better than no audition, but it’s no guarantee of happiness, and it goes both ways - a speaker that may not seem great in the dealer’s space may sound really enjoyable in your own space. Like many have said before me, you MUST listen to the speakers in your own space, and for more than just hours. You have to spend days or weeks with them and let your ears acclimate to them. Like jond above, I use Audiogon as an in-home audition service, keeping what I like and selling what I don’t like as much, and it’s worked out great.

Thank you all for sharing your perspective on the matter.  Your opinions are valued and are helpful.

I buy used, wait for a good price and sell it for my cost or in a few cases more than i paid for it.

Thats how I ended up with my Ref 3A de Capos after trying out 2 other speakers