We are buying and reviewing gear all wrong

I like many have moved in the direction of an all one system or at least all the same electronics. EACH time I did so something happened to that company!
imagine waking up one day to discover that your favorite brand of audio is closing up shop and your system is now worth 1/5 of it’s former value. Scary. I vowed to always keep my system diverse. Joe

I think one of the biggest problems when selecting speakers and electronic equipment is you are not able to listen to this gear in your home.  You spend $ thousands, get it home and it sounds harsh or simply does not sound anything like what you heard when they were demoed.  It would be nice to put a deposit down with an agreement to be able to return them to the dealer without being charged a restock fee or be pigeon holed into buying them.  Most of the retailers in Colorado work out of their homes and their rooms are less than ideal to represent the sound quality that is possible when listening to them at home.  I am surprised no one is talking about master setting speakers to tune speakers to a room.  Most audiophiles do not have a clue about how to set up their speakers at home after spending $ thousands in order to get their speakers in phase with their listening room.  Soundings in Denver is the only retailer in Denver who almost requires their customers to allow them to do a master set.  They also really feel adding the proper REL subwoofers to a systems is as important as the speakers themselves in order to create the most optimal sound stage.  You should stop buy their store and in just 30 minutes you will be convinced there is a better way to listen to 2 channel stereo.  He moved one of the speakers just a few inches from where they were marked on the floor and I suddenly heard the right and left speakers.  When he moved one of the speakers out of position, he also had to raise his voice in order for us to carry on a conversation.  Master setting totally eliminates the detection of left or right speakers.  The sound travels directly to you between the speakers and you can feel your shoulders relax and feel sound the way it is meant to be heard.  And, no I do not work for Soundings.

Linn UK
Offer whole systems based on stereo or multi channel source and active speakers.
And the probably sell loads of them. Smart marketing with smart products. Great market. Indeed doubt many are found here. Erik proposed a different review and sales strategy. Isn’t this exactly what takes place at Hi-Fi shows? Aren’t they system demo’s. There’s Nagra teamed with Wilson’s etc. Magazine reviewers will struggle to reproduce these or similar experiences for their reviews. Oth John Darko often compares similar units in a specific category headphones or dacs and so on in one review for comparison. How is a package to be assembled for a reviewer, who will coordinate and ship the package?

The whole audiophile thing really is insane...like disturbingly nuts!!  It misses the whole point of the music and having fun.  I remember selling HiFi gear back in the early 80’s when you could get a whole system that sounded very engaging for $2-$3 grand.  Spent the rest of my life chasing shadows and wondering why I enjoyed music more back then compared to anytime since.  Why didn’t the audiophile approved gear simply communicate the emotion and fun of the music more readily?  Maybe that much maligned mid bass hump was actually a good thing...at least it sounded more like a real band playing.  Too much over dampening and flat frequency response angst ruined audio for me.  Live music is crazy dynamic and loud with energy you can feel...it is not flat or damped!