My 2 cents is that buying a sota speaker is such a personal decision, and the shopping/auditioning process is fun and really part of the journey, and an opportunity to learn and train your ear.
My advice would be to get a used speaker, perhaps locally you can use while you explore your many options, and then sell that (much less expensive speaker) when you get your (permanent?) speaker. Even a loss of a few thousand would make it easier to sell, and you could consider it a rental fee.
Once you have your temporary speaker to enjoy, I would consider traveling to some audio shows and get a sense of the sound you’re looking for, as there are so many design choices and philosophies of speaker design.
I would never want the nagging feeling of listening to my “final choice” and thinking, “what if?” I had tried XXX speaker.
To echo one of the comments above, consider listening to TAD’s. They have the ability to make even ordinary recordings sound like audiophile ones, as they reveal so much inner detail. Years ago I went to a Magico demo and was blown away on the demo material. Once they put on my requested cuts (Bill Evans, Rickie Lee Jones), the kind of recordings many of us listen to, the demo fell totally flat, with the dealer stopping one track before it was over, as it was such a poor demo. An hour later back home those same tracks sounded almost like audiophile recordings on my TAD’s.
Best of luck on your journey, and please let us know how it all works out.
My advice would be to get a used speaker, perhaps locally you can use while you explore your many options, and then sell that (much less expensive speaker) when you get your (permanent?) speaker. Even a loss of a few thousand would make it easier to sell, and you could consider it a rental fee.
Once you have your temporary speaker to enjoy, I would consider traveling to some audio shows and get a sense of the sound you’re looking for, as there are so many design choices and philosophies of speaker design.
I would never want the nagging feeling of listening to my “final choice” and thinking, “what if?” I had tried XXX speaker.
To echo one of the comments above, consider listening to TAD’s. They have the ability to make even ordinary recordings sound like audiophile ones, as they reveal so much inner detail. Years ago I went to a Magico demo and was blown away on the demo material. Once they put on my requested cuts (Bill Evans, Rickie Lee Jones), the kind of recordings many of us listen to, the demo fell totally flat, with the dealer stopping one track before it was over, as it was such a poor demo. An hour later back home those same tracks sounded almost like audiophile recordings on my TAD’s.
Best of luck on your journey, and please let us know how it all works out.