Buyer's remorse - your worst purchase?

A little bit of arrogance in some of these responses. It is of a truth that nothing can match an audtion, especially in home. But, not all people live where there is access to all brands! Reading others opinions, especially more than one!!!...as well as reviews can be very helpful.

auditioning a product is, of course, the best way to shop, but as said before, it's not always possible. so, the best thing to do is as much research as possible - forums like this *are* very useful. also, if you're gonna buy something that you haven't heard, i strongly suggest either a demo or used piece - that way, if ya don't like it, ya won't take such a bath unloading it.

GTA SEP-1 Preamp. Bought it cuz I liked its looks. The pre was the worst sounding piece of junk I ever bought. They still are. Luckily for many of the uneducated GTA is out of business for the time being.

Polk Signatures,Biggest mistake,only lasted a month with me.Ended up trading them in with some cash for Martin Logan Sequels..Still have them after 5 years.The other was a Jolida it couldnt drive the Logans.Ended up breaking even on that one.

I started with a pair of tube monoblocks and took them around to speaker retailers, hooking them up to their demo speakers until I found a match (with Dunlavy Sc-III). If the dealer won't let you try your amps (or preamps, cd transport, DAC, etc) with his inventory, PASS on the dealer. Move on to the next one. Any experienced dealer or audiophile knows that you MUST match components with the equipment you have by listening and comparing. There is no other way. Some dealers are no more than audio hustlers. Do not be discouraged by negative responses from these guys, and ignore their recommendations, or hostile comments. The goal is the quality of SOUND reproduction. If you are presuaded to purchase brand NAMES based on the name alone, you are buying their marketing effort, not an objective evaluation of the equipment. Just some thoughts that can help eliminate buyers remorse.