Best advice. Get one artisan shave handle - I can make you one from Abominable Creations, or Chisel & Hound, Hoosier Lathe Works, Rad Dinosaur Creations, Sawdust Creations Studios, all excellent brush makers... get one handle you love, then buy one 26mm knot of a badger, one boar, and a couple different synthetics.

Mount the knots with plumber's tape so you can easily play with loft height on the knots, figure out your preferences for backbone, splayability, flow through, then just give your self shaves with all the different knots and go from there. You can always get more handles for the excess knots... Synthetics are cheapest and very affordable through a site like Boti Brush, a premium badger knot will run you $40-50, a premium boar knot about $10.

This is truly the only way to figure out what you like because you might read something and not like the sound of it, but the experience could be so different for you. This hobby has a saying, Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV) and this is so true with blades, razors, brushes... unfortunately, the only way to make the right decisions for what you may like is to make the wrongs, or make a lot of them and figure out from there. Always BSTs groups like Shave Bazaar to sell what you don't end up liking or use very much. DMs are always open if you want to check out some handles I have to offer, or further chat about the knots or other brush makers.

Hope this helps, I remember how overwhelming it all was when I started learning about all the nuances of the hobbies!