The Demise of the Hi-End Audio Store

Ok. So I've read hundred's of forum posts from a lot of people and one question keeps popping into my head. Where does everyone listen (test out) all of this equipment? I don't know about you but I live in a fairly populated area, Cleveland/Akron Ohio area, and while there are a few (and I only mean a few) high end audio stores in my area, there are limited hi end brands in those stores. Ten years ago that was a different story, but this is the reality today.

So while I want to listen to equipment I'm interested in (Jolida, Prima Luna, Silverline, LSA, the list goes on and on), there isn't the opportunity.

Does everyone really travel hundreds of miles to listen to new components or do you do your research and buy what you think will work and go from there?

Thanks