the big one: how do you choose speakers? By what features, data?

My two cents: figure out what you like, not what reviewers like. Define what you like as much as you can. Do you like laid back smooth sound or higher detail, do you like huge sound stage, are looks important (for me for sure), what’s your budget, etc. Then demo, listen at dealers, buy, return, and sell until you are satisfied—being satisfied for me will last just as long it takes to get accustomed to my system and then I want to change something!

I’ve had a huge variety of speakers—vintage Marantz, Polk, Cambridge, Q Acoustics, Dynaudio, Tekton, and Sonus Faber. For me modern Sonus Faber is my choice. Sensitivity matters most if you have low powered tube amps.

I’d add that larger speakers have been my preference as they throw a bigger sound stage and are more likely to disappear.