If its overwhelming, two things that would really help, more organization, less elitism.
I was born audiophile, but looking back, for all the time and money I put into it never really made much progress until I picked up a copy of Robert Harley’s The Complete Guide to High End Audio. Harley goes into each component in detail, explaining function and purpose in detail that includes the importance of power supplies and various circuits and subcomponents. Even though I had built a Dynaco ST400 years ago and knew a lot of this it really helped it gel in my mind. These all started to become real actual things not just words on a page.
If I had to pick one most valuable chapter it would be the one on audio terminology. Grain, glare, fatigue, imaging, focus, air, and dozens more- Harley discusses their meaning in such clear detail you will understand so well merely reading this chapter is guaranteed to improve your next listening session.
Another unwelcome roadblock is elitism. Elitism takes many forms. The obvious one is the retailer who exudes a haughty air of superiority and makes you feel as if its your duty to prove you are worth being granted the privilege of paying for, er I mean owning, er I mean even listening to his Precious. Or they show their elitism by setting themselves up as highly expert consultants- everyone else being all shills and touts. Some even show their elitism by acting as if they are so above it all they cannot even deign to take the subject seriously and so do nothing but joke about it.