Buying Without Audition

I guess I am ’old school’ now.
The internet has opened things up for audiophiles. ’Back in the olden’ days’, you had to visit shops and spend hours listening (which was fun), now you can review the experiences of others and make an educated guess when buying stereo equipment.
What I really wanted to impress upon the OP is that by auditioning equipment, you get a real feel for what sound ’good’ to you and you alone. Sure, you can get a decent sound system by using the reviews of others, but my opinion is that you really need to experience what ’sound’ makes you close your eyes and experience the ’Nirvana’ that comes when a stereo system comes together. (Of course, you’ll always be tweaking it....;) )
Bob

I didn't know there were so many fellow boony-dwellers in Audiogon! Everything in my listening room was purchased used on Audiogon or other sites, except for my Vinyl Nirvana Thorens long base 125, which I got from Dave himself, along the tonearm and cartridge. I have been doing that since I started, and it's been fun. I have bought my first set of  Thiel 2.2's from a store in Lubbock, the others from Don Hamby in Amarillo, all used. I have become willing to meet people half way, from the metroplex or Houston. I have swapped speakers and amps after eating barbeque in Brady, TX. I bought a pair of (huge) Thiel CS5's from a seller in Alabama, and used Craters and Freighters to pack and ship them to my garage, luckily without incident. Go for it. It's all fun.

If you buy speakers that have a VERY flat frequency response, good quality drivers, good cross over design in a nice cabinet, you can get away without an audition. Mine are 34 - 20k hz +/- 1.5 db and 29 - 45k +/- 3 db. 

Hard to go wrong if the response curve is that flat. Wish they were a tad more efficient, but getting the power wasn't that expensive. 

I wouldn't hesitate to buy anything from Jim Salk or Dennis Murphy without ever plugging a wire into them. 

That is a problem (especially for large and heavy speakers for which return shipping can be expensive). In your shoes, I guess I would begin by doing a lot of web-based research (which it sounds like you may have already done, or started doing); then pick a city with a lot of brick-and-mortar audio dealers to visit or vacation in as you can (NYC, LA and Chicago come to mind here) and make the rounds of the stores. (Alternatively, attend one of the big annual audio shows... Rocky Mountain, Chicago, NYC, etc.) to audition many speakers and systems in one place. If neither of those is an option for you, Ihen check out some of the bigger (and well regarded) online retailers such as MusicDirect, Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc, and Upscale Audio. Another fav of mine is Galen Carol Audio in San Antonio, Tx. This is by no means an inclusive list... just the online merchants I've had goof interactions with... Best of luck,

Michael

Volsfan, I too spent a lot of time looking at Salk/Murphy speakers. The SS12's were out and looked promising but ran into production problems. Jim was very open and honest as far as the different lines' attributes. 
Ultimately, what did you decide on and what do you drive them with?