I dont have a store nearby, so i do most of my headphone exploring by buying and reselling used headphones. Havent made a profit nor a loss in 20 or so headphones. But in my country (Netherlands) the market is pretty bad, especially with the higher end stuff. People try to sell their (ab)used stuff often for more than new price and get annoyed when you offer them a more realistic price.
I live in the rural midwestern US.
Home theater and car stuff is pretty accessible here, but for headphones specifically, the closest I’ve found is in Chicago… which is a 7-hour drive away.
There’s basically nothing in Chicago, either.
Huh. Well that checks out, I’ve never been to Chicago, lol.