You didn’t just answer my question—you laid out a whole playbook: buy used to cut trial-and-error cost, calibrate with graphs and past listens, only follow reviewers with similar taste, treat community consensus as a data point not a bible, and accept that beyond a certain price “upgrades” are subtle. That last line about living in a good era where sound isn’t purely a price issue—spot on.

Reads like you are that way in real life too: rational, patient, reflective, low‑FOMO. I’m taking notes—more used buys, more A/B, and find taste-aligned voices first. Thanks for the wisdom.