What has been your costliest mistake in this hobby?

I purchased a pair of Von Schweikert VR33 speakers used for the retail price of new because there was a 6-9 month build time and I had to have them. After I received them I realized they sounded terrible in my room. I tried all the usual fixes like moving them, putting pillows in spots where I thought things sounded better, etc.

A year + later, my wife mentioned I hadn’t listened to the stereo in many months and only a few times since I got the VS speakers.  I Vacillated another 6 months before I admitted to myself that I hated the speakers. I then bought into the Golden Ear line and I am extremely happy. To finish my story, I sold the Von Schweikert speakers for 66% less than what I paid for them, and also lost my shirt on shipping.

Biggest mistake I made was buying a pair of highly regarded floorstanding speakers which got many great reviews without ever hearing them first.  They sounded God-awful so naturally it couldn’t be the speakers.  I replaced every component and wire in the system at a tremendous cost and after many tens of thousands of dollars, the system still sounded horrible.   After many sleepless nights, I sold the highly regarded speakers and started over.   Lesson learned.  I will never buy something like speakers without hearing them first.  That mistake cost me upwards of 40K. 

@drkingfish,

What, in Gods name is your problem?  You spewed quite a bit of BS in your post.  Get up on the wrong side of the bed or are you always this way?   You seem very angry, perhaps some Anger Management Classes are in order?   I don’t think your drama is helpful or warranted. 

Biggest mistake:  listening to too many of the armchair experts in these forums.