Is it important to long demo or own HIGH END gear to have a fair accurate view about it?

@noromance @bigkidz

+2

I cannot think of a time in the past 20 years when I have been wrong on my first impression of a component/speaker after trying it in my system. Sometimes in the "first 5 minutes" and certainly within the first couple of days.

There have been a couple of times I deluded myself into thinking I liked something based on its reputation or what it cost but in every case I always circled back to my first impression being the correct one for me. Embarrassingly, in some cases this took months or years but I have become more confident in trusting my gut (i.e., first impression). @mijostyn provided some good advice to "beware of two traps, the cool looking trap and the costs more trap."

Impossible to hear all high end gear; have to depend on other's opinions and manufacturer's fluff. OP reveals a problem with those whose $10 beats the sucker's $100. A tiresome activity. Must someone always win? Mike's adroit inclusion of passion assumes commitment and investment. Many are limited and few have a barn. But I still sing along in my car and it's horrible audio.

I am making strides with my main system, but accept its limitations as honestly as I can.

@mijostyn 

 Most differences that some audiophiles gush over are really quite minor or maybe even psychological.

Do you mean for high end gear? Or any? I hear (or imagine to hear :) ) profound differences with amplifiers.

Like all of us, I have pondered where does high end start?  Is my H390 high end or does it start with Krell, Boulder or Dan D’Agostino?

My Brother, still happily listens to his tunes from the quarter inch speakers in his IPhone and thinks I’m nuts for having spent all that money on my rig. So I guess to him, my gear is high end.  To me it’s just the best that I could afford.

Well I jumped off this tilt-a-whirl a while ago. High end audio is all what you interpret it to be.  For me it is not about high end it is about the sound I enjoy, not status. Not sure where it starts but I know where it ended in my house.