Hi-end audio is a big zero

And the part that no one is talking about - the dealer has thousands of dollars of gear in someone's home, and it may not be saleable as new when he gets it back. It's a big risk.

i can relate to those sentiments. look, i can go to the hifi shop and hear a $1500 pair of speakers driven by a $7k tube amp, i can take em home and drive em with my adcom. u know...eh...cmon. theres a much better way to do this. ive heard the dealers concerns and understand those, but so many manucfacturers have that 30-60 day no strings attached satisfaction guarantee. some a 5% return fee. not bad. 

@deadhead1000 

+1000!!

I am the same I have my favorites but will also take music any way I can get it.

Impossible? Not in 2022. There are enough builders that allow cheap or free returns to make good choices. If you want the best of all grow into a reviewer. You probably have to do more work than just visiting but that's not working for you anyway.

HiFi audio is a hobby with difficult expensive choices to make. Also expensive mistakes and buyers remorse. HiFi is all about listening and experiencing a music piece with its all details. You will hear same piece from different system with different details pleasing your ears. The difference is all about listening music with all those details as musician intended and recording revealed. When you listen same song on an ordinary speaker feels like looking at Mona Lisa behind a dirty glass. More expensive the system not necessarily is a better experience.  As prices goes up definitely returns are very diminishing. So everyone settles with a system that please them, some with deep pocket goes through a journey of constant changes and updating of these systems. 
Buying process can be very very frustrating due to complexity of putting an entire system in one store. Sales people, a lot of time reluctant and lazy to create ideal listening conditions during buying process. It is nearly impossible to experience to try and audition different systems at one HiFi store. That is why attending few HiFi conventions like Axpona can be excellent opportunity to audition all these gears at one place by focusing mainly on gear within budget. It really feels like a candy shop for HiFi enthusiast. Also you meet many very knowledgeable people from industry to improve understanding of different gear. I built my system after a such experience. I had many other preferences before, and ended up with completely different systems which I never imagined. Today I am very happy with choices I made, I think I created amazingly good sounding system with in my budget. Today when I go to these conventions, I don’t feel like missing much from other more expensive systems. So my glass is clear enough to experience the art in details.