I listened to a current speaker model and loved it, but got cheap and bought the close-out without hearing them! I bought those speakers based on lots of reviews and industry hype. I knew better than to buy unheard, but the deal...the deal! From the start they were too bright for me. I swapped out lots of amps, pre-amps, cables, sources etc. I ended up selling them and bought new speakers. My audio life changed for the better. I now advise anyone to listen to as many speakers as you can, spend more on speakers than you feel is wise, then shape the rest of your system based on feeding your speakers what THEY need.
Happen to you? Gear chasing because the fundamentals were wrong.
Gear chasing and swapping can be a real joy or a real pain.
The search for "better" or just the search for the "right fit" or sound.
One thing I've learned (with some difficulty) is that there are some fundamentals which have to be in place if anything else is going to be accurately assessed.
Of these, amp-speaker synergy and room acoustics were the most obvious factors I neglected. Noise and isolation were also missed as critical, early on. I blamed components which really were not the cause or the solution to the situation because I was missing the fundamentals.
I'm curious to hear anecdotes of your discovery.
What fundamental did you fail to pay attention to which caused you to chase gear unnecessarily?
Hopefully, these stories will be instructive, especially for newer audiophiles.