Happen to you? Gear chasing because the fundamentals were wrong.

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. 

I have dirty power in my area and it took some time to find this out and clean it up.

I bought an amp because I had read many times that it was a “musical’ amp, and other nice talk.

It was junk, a 3 out of 10; I still have it and would be embarrassed to sell it and inflict it on someone else.

The mistake was that I had not been careful enough in discerning who had actual experience with that amplifier vs who was simply repeating comments they had heard.

Since then, I value only testimony from direct experience.

In a word. Room. 

@hilde45 - I don't disagree with your observations- the amp-speaker synergy, the acoustics of the room and effective placement of the gear (I don't rely heavily on room treatment) and noise- both ambient and inter-component as well as the quality of power feeding the system.

I guess I played it safe- I was a long time Quad listener who focused mainly on midrange- I did add ribbons and a sub or two, but sometimes, that was like three good systems playing simultaneously. Cheap Hafler and later analog surround added a 3d quality to some LPs but not all for a brief period in the late '80s.

I switched to horns and SETS back in 2006 and over the years, and two dedicated rooms later, got it to a level I'm satisfied with. This took time with room set-up, careful attention to power, starting at the meter, and the "right" combination of associated components to bring out the best in what I have- adding more woofers with DSP, changing to the seductive Koetsu- midrange here was always good but the elusive Stones add a gravitas to the bass I never had- along with tone, texture and more harmonics.

I don't know that there are too many shortcuts, but making costly mistakes is no fun either. Which is why, if there is a short-cut answer to the "magic" we believe we hear (and it is an illusion), seat time, lots of it, is essential. As is home trial to the extent possible. There are differences in equipment, so much so that it is amazing we can get it right. 

PS: for me, it is still a knife edge- if I put a different tube in certain places, the voicing changes. The same would be true of a change of cartridge or simply a bad adjustment of a tonearm. 

I guess I believe in a little luck, too.