the big one: how do you choose speakers? By what features, data?

I use two criteria for speakers - My left ear and my right ear.  

In home trial is important, but it's hard to compare with other speakers. The sound in an acoustically treated store room will not be the sound in your room. I am a firm believer in controlled HF dispersion to prevent early reflections. I also believe there is no substitute for room treatments. The LEDE theory has always worked for me, Live End behind Dead End to the front. Don't go by specifications, nobody has an anechoic chamber for a room. Most important trust your ears in your room. An audio chain is only as strong as it's weakest link. Matching components is important and there are a lot of factory direct places that allow 30 day in home trials.

@yxcbandit @jchiappinelli 

If I came from another Planet and I knew a lot about speakers but none of the speaker brands on Planet Earth, where would I start? Let's say there are a 100 good speaker brands and they all have a few speakers in my price range. I feel like I am limited by what speakers brands I know, what the nearby dealer has, what Crutchfield carries, etc. 

I know I am bit thick....

I used to sell hi end audio and the mark up on speakers is insanely high. I myself have gone the factory direct route. A few years ago I was reading a TAS review of the Emerald Physics EP2.8’s and took a chance. I bought from Underwood Wally after talking to Walter Liederman (owner of EP) for a few hours on the phone and I'm glad I did. Sold my B&W 802D's and never looked back. The EP2.8's were less than 1/2 the price of the B&W's and are a much more lifelike sounding speaker IMO. Axiom's Audio M80's or M100's are great value, well made and sound better than most brand names in their price range. I think they still offer a 30 day in home trial too. I have also had the pleasure of listening to the Hsu CCB-8's with the Hsu ULS 15 MK2 subwoofer. They are too big to be called a bookshelf speaker and need stands, but that package is truly a giant killer and efficient enough to drive with a smaller amp or receiver because the subwoofer is self powered. Dr Hsu demonstrates it with a little 10 yr old Sony receiver and the sound is truly astounding and not just for the price, astounding period. These speakers all use some kind of directional control of the HF's. The Hsu and the EP's use concentric mounted tweeters inside the midrange driver which controls dispersion and early reflections that can smear the image. I believe Axiom also uses a directional lens tweeter to control dispersion. Go to these websites, find a speaker in the price range for your budget and read as many reviews as you can. See if you can connect with an owner for a listening session. Emerald Physics is just coming out with their new line, and according to Wally they will be an evolution, not a design change. These are of course just my opinions.

@yxcbandit 

I understood about half of it. I am definitely not hi-fi, more like almost mid-fi.

But I do get your points about finding the best value, and focus on the characteristics that are important to me. Again awesome insight thank you, lots to think about!