Question: What are some of your best pieces of advise to someone new to the hobby?

I concur with ghdprentice and @stingray26 ...

+3

Tell him to ignore tech specs, they mean nothing.  Listen to as much as possible and buy what you like.  

It's a hobby and should be fun. Being passionate about your aspirations is part of what stimulates you as a hobbiest. There is no such thing as a perfect system -the trick is learning how to determine which auditory compromise, or compromises, which are ALWAYS a part of the decisions you will find yourself making in this hobby, will lead to what pleases you most and the longest. This hobby can be very consuming- especially of money.   

Listen to as many types of speakers and amps as possible. 

Horn loaded, open baffle, sealed, ported, electrostatics, multi driver, single driver, high efficiency. Single ended tubes, push pull tubes, high power, low power, Class A solid state, class A/B solid state, single ended solid state.

If you don’t know what types systems are avail, and how they sound, it’ll be a long and expensive journey to arrive where you want to be.

Listening to EVERYTHING is perhaps a good idea at first but impossible for most anyway... Your room and needs will determine the type of speakers... And a speakers set dont sound the same in different room coupled with different components anyway...

Read about the way to embed any system and any component optimally in the electrical, mechanical and acoustical working dimensions... Begin with what you own now ...Dont upgrade if not necessary or if you dont know how to upgrade anyway , study and experiment...

Learn, study acoustic concepts , experiment with fun or pay for an endless rabbit hole of obsessions for a dreamed "perfection" ...

This hobby is about music learning  and acoustic experiments more than about upgrades and money...