Don't get it, why anyone would ask others "what sounds best"?

for a number of years i did rely on reviews and feedback from others for guidance. and it got me to a dead end of Mark Levinson electronics and Wilson speakers.

Just about the juiciest, tastiest, most awesome sentence I have read on this site in years. Maybe ever. I would say pin it to the top of every page but after a while it would lose its sparkle and that would be a shame, it truly is a gem.

Me, I can only stand in awe at your Zen-like power to flip the tables toppling Levinson and Krell from the peak of the pyramid to a dead end. Which they are, but I’d be attacked for saying it while Mike Lavigne on the other hand will come off smelling like a rose. Seriously, seriously awesome!

Doctor Porsche, the first one, said he could not find the car he was looking for so he built one. To please himself. To satisfy his own personal requirements of what a car should be.

What was it Sinatra said? "I gotta be me!" Only way to fly. One might almost say, there is no substitute.

Wrong topic to post that question.

Me, I can only stand in awe at your Zen-like power to flip the tables toppling Levinson and Krell from the peak of the pyramid to a dead end. Which they are, but I’d be attacked for saying it while Mike Lavigne on the other hand will come off smelling like a rose. Seriously, seriously awesome!

i think, to be fair, you should have quoted the next few words i wrote, where i said

it was good, but not satisfying

and also, to be fair, this was 21 years ago. Wilson speakers are now higher in my regard than back then. my opinion now of Wilson would be there is no good reason that a system would be limited by a Wilson speaker. they can get the job done. they are coherent and have a natural balance. not how i felt back then. are they the best audio investment? do you want to get on the brick and mortar churn? those things are still relevant.

I go by my ear as nobody can make a buying decision for me.

As far as asking others for their opinions, why not? There's way too much equipment out there to listen to even a good portion. If a few folks recommend something then I often use that to narrow down the search. I agree with JL35 that its just a starting point.

I also like to stick with  brands that are from more reliable companies. As the owner in the past of Enlightened Audio and Meadowlark equipment that used Audax tweeters it is tough when your manufacturer goes out of business (Meadowlark is back at least)

Once I've found a few items that seem to make sense its time to listen. I have found that there's too much going on when doing A-B comparisons so I break it down. I pick a musical passage that highlights either treble, mids or bass. Say I start with a passage featuring a bass guitar. I just listen to that portion going back and forth until I can tell which I like best. Then I do the same for a passage that higlights the mids and then treble. In my experience one unit will "win" on all three, but of course that needn't be true. I've found that the one that gets all the parts right will typically be the unit that has the best overall sound too.

Not an easy hobby, but maybe that's part of the fun!