Do You Buy Speakers Without Hearing Them?

The safest way is to listen to them in your system at home.  Won't make a bad decision that way.  I've learned the hard and expensive way more than once.  I know that I'm a VMPS RM40 BCSE man.  I love the VMPS ribbons and have owned about 5 of them.  Listened to a couple before I bought but they were in an unfamiliar system.  Made poor choices both times.  One other I bought without hearing them based on good reviews--also turned out poorly.  My choice back in 2012 still beats out all challengers to my ears.

Bob

I replaced Vandersteen 3A Signatures (never auditioned before) with Magnepan 1.7i's (never auditioned before). Extremely pleased with both purchases. Especially the 1.7i's. Dana 

I luv my vmps 40 and the towers I have they were are a good bang for the buck.you have to like ribbons. We're I am the are no stores so I have to gamble.i. have never sent anything back to crutchfield. And some other places that he  60 day return.upscale audio ect.but mostly buy used including cars with low miles at a great discount.enjoy the music stay healthy

My most recent speaker purchase I didn’t listen to first but since all the reviews were extremely positive I pulled the trigger.
Dynaudio Heritage Special’s with the Dynaudio Stand 20. Phenomenal speakers every bit as good as all the reviews, maybe even better. 

I started buying speakers (all kinds and sizes) in the early '80s. Probably a dozen to a dozen and a half pairs since then, all but one or two used. I'm pretty sure I heard only one of those speakers very briefly before buying (in a noisy showroom). So of course that purchase was a disaster. The speakers sucked and I quickly dumped them. Easily the largest and heaviest speakers I ever owned were the Vandersteen 4s. I bought them used from 3,300 miles away based on various reviews of different Vandersteen models (all positive reviews). The 4s had to be shipped to my house on a semi-trailer. It was insane. They were an immediate success, and still live on in memory as the best speakers I ever heard.

Buying speakers "blind" is easier now w/the aid of the internet. I long ago figured out my sonic preferences, and since then have become rather good at decoding/translating the descriptives people use for speakers. For example, "accurate" and "transparent" often = bright (or at least, brighter than I want). And so on.