How far would you drive to audition a component?

I won an ebay auction for a Salamander synergy twin 30 audio rack in Oklahoma City last month(I live in New Orleans). It stated local delivery only. I got a great price and planned a trip in the Talimena Parkway - a high mountain road in se Oklahoma Kiamichi mountains.
10 hours each way. I also hit up 3 record stores on this weekend trip

Usually I'd keep a trip down to 5 hours one way

Galibier in Boulder Colorado offers airfare trip compensation for those who purchase their turntables.
Sounds like a nice scenario

I'd probably fly to hear a big speaker or amp purchase or do it as a side loop to a vacation. That being said I purchased a pair of Salk HT3's lightlyused - unheard as they had many extra features I wanted and were competitively priced. This turned out really well.

Analog front end purchases - cartridge/arm I've done off of word of gon mouth, I trust those who have done all the legwork. And you can't go wrong with Mehran at Sora Sounds

On the amp end - I am considering a Moscode 401hr
they have a money back 30 day in house trial
that's a nice option to see your own in house synergy

About 3 years ago I drove from Michigan to New Hampshire to buy a pair of Coincident Super Eclipse II speakers. I did this over a two day weekend. I swore I would have the speakers forever. I enjoyed them very much but they only stayed for about 1.5 years. It was an adventure but I was really sick of driving and being in the car that long.

A couple of hours each way is about the limit for me. I've done 4 trips (2 stops on one of them). Only one resulted in a purchase, but the others were well worth the time considering each trip saved me $3-5k on equipment that would not have satisfied me.

6-8 hours. Of course when I take longer trips, I always look up shops.

I flew from Albany NY to Denver CO to audition the Galibier. While one can read about the product, and chat with the maker - the proof is in the pudding, so to speak. In this price category, it would be nearly analogous to buying a new car without first taking it out for a test drive. Happily, my expectations were exceeded on my trip to Boulder, and I am one very happy Galibier owner.

-Richard