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

@mahgister …”I dont know how people can think they had heard something in any room which is not their room , and with any complementary gear around it which is not their gear...”.

I think you learn venues the same way you can learn to separate what the specific speakers contribute, versus amp, preamp, vs, source. Experience. The more venues, live music, and equipment you experience you can start separating them out.

I remember the beginning of my pursuing the high end… my head was spinning. But over time I learned the house sound of Rotel, NAD, B&W, Threshold… etc. over the decades, I could tell what was venue, setup. I would often go to an audition and go adjust the toe-in or have the guys use a different amp. I found I started knowing much more than a lot of folks selling the gear. Also, I learned to quick;y spot folks that knew what they were talking about. We would instantly become fast friends and be able to exchange ideas and observations at a mile a minute.  This is what makes the pursuit so fascinating long-termed. There is no end to learning.

@ghdprentice 

Thanx gh. It is not perfect yet, but we are making headway.

First of all, I prefer the large presentation of line source systems. Dipole, line source, open baffle speakers have extreme advantages when it comes to room acoustics. Because they do not project sound to the sides, up or down there is much less room interaction. You only have to worry about what comes off the back of the speaker which is easy to deal with. I use 4" foam acoustic tile, three rows, floor to ceiling directly behind the speakers. Bass is always a problem for dipoles and I cross to subwoofers at 100 Hz relieving them of the problem entirely. 

I have four new subwoofers which are almost finished. They should easily outperform the current ones. The New DEQX processor should arrive in a week or two and I plan on biamping the ESLs using the crossover in the DEQX and a Bricasti M25 to drive the high frequency transformers. There are a few luxury Items that I might jump for in the future like the Channel D Seta L 20, the best phono stage made IMHO. The Dohmann Helix 2 is also on the list along with a Schroder LT and maybe a few more cartridges. 

@mahgister …”I dont know how people can think they had heard something in any room which is not their room , and with any complementary gear around it which is not their gear...”.

I think you learn venues the same way you can learn to separate what the specific speakers contribute, versus amp, preamp, vs, source. Experience. The more venues, live music, and equipment you experience you can start separating them out.

I never said that listening experience in showroom is not informative... It is...

But the only way to know the optimal potential of a piece of gear is in our OWN room with our OWN work and time and with our OWN gear to couple with it ... Thats my point ... I am sure you understand it but i must clarify ...

I will say it more drastically than Mikelavigne because people dont always understand a point if not said in an exagerated way stylistically :

High end has nothing to do with the gear price tag. and even with his design ultimately , but with the way we work the gear we have with passion for music and for learning and passion for acoustics ...

Give me anything relatively not too bad, i will make it sound minimally satisfying or more if i invest time to learn how to do it... the only thing that help a lot is often a dedicated room ... the most difficult element to buy for many of us...my room now is very small ...😊 but i can live now with it without any frustration ...

read me right , for sure design matter, it is better to have the Fritz speakers bookshelves than my low cost active speakers... But i can do with any of the two ...because of what i learned ...

....I'm still stuck on 'grain in the treble', and whether is was wheat or oats....

..but agree with @mapman most issues lie in the rooms we occupy with our 'stuff'...

The 'agreeable average response', given the items within said spaces, will rarely be 'purrfect' unless ones' sig other is either very tolerant, likes 'quality' v. 'visuals', has been trussed up and 'put in storage', or divorced (which cancels out most any 'future improvements')....

Spouse Ev likes our small Maggies' and the sound of the Heils'....I'm working on the Walsh to make them 'room friendly' visually...;)

For me I need to get any piece of gear home before I really know if I like it or not. Demoing gear is frustrating. Just like buying tickets for a Broadway show six months in advance frequently I'm not in the mood come showtime! The best thing in the world is cueing up a record, pouring a glass of wine and settling in for a good listen WHEN I'M READY