Taking your time and deep research are good ideas as speaker sonic preferences are highly subjective. When I searched for speakers, I went to audio shows and audio stores to demo. Keep in mind that commonly poor hotel room sonics at audio shows may or not reflect the speaker’s performance - I love Magico, but at one audio show they sounded meh.
Often, speaker manufactures have a "brand" sonic signature. My strategy was to listen to the best speakers I could demo, then try to recreate the sonics within my budget.
Stereophile puts out recommended components here. TAS (The Absolute Sound) magazine put out a 2024 Annual Buyers Guide in their November 2023 issue#343.
After intense research, I demoed 2 speakers of interest at AXPONA 2022. One sounded with better treble, the other more balanced but somewhat muffled. The speaker I really liked was out of my price range, but after I told my trusted dealer he negotiated a lower price and I raised my budget so I now own the demoed speakers.
Good luck and wishing you the very best in your search