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

what would make you stretch your budget?

rationalization.  Trying to convince myself that when it come to high end audio components regular thoughtful purchasing habits go out the window, then some sort of cost/benefit heavily swayed by fascination that seals the deal.   

These Revival Audio speakers from Daniel Emonts look slick! I'm guessing that they give KEF, Focal and Dynaudio a run for their money. You can tell that the design and craftsmanship are considerate. The prices are very reasonable too.

However, you're paying full MSRP.

Yesterday I bought a Creek 4240 integrated amp for only 130€. I say this because the seller was also putting up a pair of Castle bookshelf speakers in excellent condition with wooden stands for sale around 250€. Castle is a very reputable British speaker brand. So you have a solid amp + speaker combo for under 500€. The equivalent new would be 3000€. Granted, this is 2000s equipment, but it sounds excellent to my ears. I see another local add for Castle speakers for 300€. 

So if you happen to live in France, look for Castle speakers. They're so underrated and underpriced on the used market. Equivalent JBLs would cost like 1000€. 

It's a shame that Americans hype everything up. Vintage gear seems a lot more expensive over there. It's appalling that beatup Klipsch Heresy speakers go for $800 easily. 

@kokakolia 

The Castles look like great value! Where do you find these deals?

@grislybutter Over on the local classfields. If it ain’t Yamaha, Marantz, Pioneer, Focal, Cabasse or JBL people don’t care or want it. 

My two cents: figure out what you like, not what reviewers like. Define what you like as much as you can. Do you like laid back smooth sound or higher detail, do you like huge sound stage, are looks important (for me for sure), what’s your budget, etc. Then demo, listen at dealers, buy, return, and sell until you are satisfied—being satisfied for me will last just as long it takes to get accustomed to my system and then I want to change something!

I’ve had a huge variety of speakers—vintage Marantz, Polk, Cambridge, Q Acoustics, Dynaudio, Tekton, and Sonus Faber. For me modern Sonus Faber is my choice. Sensitivity matters most if you have low powered tube amps.