What I learned is that there wasn't an ideal choice; there is an overabundance of terrific gear; the options and pairings really are endless; and final choices (imperfect though they are) have to be made.
Yep,
unfortunately nothing, absolutely nothing, replaces auditioning; especially
auditioning a component in our rigs. As
much as we would like, because it’s easy and involves little effort, we can only believe little if anything, we read. What
we can do, is add what we read to our knowledge base and continue building that,
until a personal experience proves our tentative conclusions. But until we
find someone with our exact same system and we know that our audio priorities
are similar to theirs, making conclusions, especially buying ones, isn’t
recommended. But unfortunately because
of logistics, it’s understood that buying unheard, can't be prevented.
If an audio store isn't nearby, attending an audio show (albeit not great
conditions, nor easy to judge what a specific component is doing in the chain),
provides a highly recommended learning experience.
As a long-term (read old) audiophile, I can't tell you how many times my
preconceived ideas about brands, component types (ss, vs tubes, analogue vs
digital, digital direct to amp vs pre-amp to amp, cones & domes vs panels
vs horns vs open baffles etc.) have been modified, crushed etc.... Thus,
with all things audio (and life in general) one should always try to
maintain an open mind. If that is done,
surprises and forehead slaps abound and great finds and experiences will be the
result; these will be in place until another surprise avails itself and we again learn and decide to move on…and so it goes.