Listening to equipment at home before you buy

Please remember you are assembling a system

Source, program, cables, loudspeakers, room acoustic all contribute.

Purchasing without a listen in your system puts you at risk of buying a pig in a poke or passing on an ugly duckling which is really a swan.

And don't forget the stress of driving 100 miles listening all the while to some incoherent egregious automobile system.

@ieales 
One usually has some idea of what kind of system would work for them in their space and on their budget; what kind of music they listen to; how loud they like to play their music, etc. Beyond that - It's not rocket science - just a few basic rules: Quality low capacitance, low inductance, high conductance speaker cables and ICs (they don't have to cost $10K) work very well with most all equipment and speakers, while high capacitance cables don't match well with high currant amps. Don't match a low efficient, hard to drive, set of speakers with a low powered amp - tube or SS. Match the size and character of your speakers to the space you've got to fill. Wither you stream, play CDs or LPs is personal choice and a mater of budget. If something of interest comes up, that peaks your interest and you think it might work well for you - google it, read reviews and ask your fellow AudioGoners. If it clicks all the boxes why be afraid to drive 100 miles to check it out.
Over the years I've auditioned many pieces of equipment somewhere other than in my own home and have never brought home a bad choice. Every room can  be made to sound better with a little time and attention to set up and a bit of treatment. Putting together and setting up a nice system within a given budget isn't as hard as it seems....Jim

+++ for making connections with John at Audio Connection. I have never dealt with him, as I’m quite some distance from the NE. but he has a stellar reputation as a great source for help with anything to do with Vandyies.
A while back, I had a chance to audition the Vandy Treos through an Ayre VX-5 Evo and the sound was very, very good - open, detailed, yet smooth and un-strained. I had a chance to live with that same amp at my home for about 3 weeks, through my Audible Illusions pre, running my Maggie 1.7s and liked it allot.
Another of my favorite SS amps, for the dollar, has always been Bryston. When I get ready to go back to SS, I would not hesitate a minuet to jump on a good buy on a used Ayre V-X5 or a Bryston 4B SST or SST-2, and I have no doubt that either of those two amps would match very nicely with the Vandy 2Ce sigs. Sometimes you can find either the Ayer or Brystons for around $2.5K to $3K on the used market. For a SS amp to pair with Vandies, Maggies or older Thiels, I can’t think of anything for anywhere near the cost that would do a better job than either of those amps. You could check with John though, he may have some other ideas...Jim

Those Vandersteen sound really good with the Belles electronics.