Joseph,
All the answers to you questions have been beaten to death here and everywhere else, but I have no problem with your o.p.
As always, disregard the advice of long term audiophiles in favor of the 'latest and greatest' at your peril.
I have no problem with dealers posting as audiophiles. Many of the most published posters are all over SELL forums. The difference between a dealer and someone that has a 2500 rating for Audiogon sales is semantics.