Most of us who have been around these parts for awhile have had the deflating experience of just losing out on something we wanted, as John described so well above. On the other hand--and this is one of the basic truths of the hobby--if you should miss out on a piece of gear you really want, just be patient. Everything in high end audio--and I mean EVERYTHING--comes up for sale sooner or later. It is usually just a matter of being patient.
Just a few years ago, I was hot on the trail of a preamp I had researched and decided to buy. I saw one in the classifieds and contacted the seller, who told me the preamp was mine, only to turn around ten minutes later and tell me I was actually second in line. The first guy ended up getting the preamp, and I could only curse my bad luck. Three weeks later, another one came up and I snapped it up, saving three hundred bucks in the process!
Of course, patience and high end audio are not natural bedfellows, but that's another story. The bottom line is that if you have your heart set on something in audio, it will eventually appear, at least in my experience.