You absolutely need to take your own music. You should select a few cd's (and some vinyl if you have it) that you know well, and that fits the overall genre of what you like to listen to. This will help you establish a baseline across multiple listening sessions. It also sends the message that you are serious about buying to the folks you are buying from.
This second thing is a lot harder though. Realize that you can do much better buying used. but it's pretty unethical to demo equipment at a brick and mortar store knowing you intend to buy elsewhere used.
That leaves you in a quandry. Most times you can re-sell your used purchases at a price very close to what you paid for them. That makes buying used a relatively low financial risk. But since you have not spent much time listening to what's available, you probably need the help of local stores to see what you like.
In my opinion, you'll need to suck it up and pay the brick and mortar premium. You can certainly look for used in those stores which will save you the new premium.
You can also build the system up slowly...with the main purchase being the speakers at the store. Then you can cycle through the up stream components in the used market until you are compfortable with your overall sound.
Good luck...this is a fun journey you are embarking on.
This second thing is a lot harder though. Realize that you can do much better buying used. but it's pretty unethical to demo equipment at a brick and mortar store knowing you intend to buy elsewhere used.
That leaves you in a quandry. Most times you can re-sell your used purchases at a price very close to what you paid for them. That makes buying used a relatively low financial risk. But since you have not spent much time listening to what's available, you probably need the help of local stores to see what you like.
In my opinion, you'll need to suck it up and pay the brick and mortar premium. You can certainly look for used in those stores which will save you the new premium.
You can also build the system up slowly...with the main purchase being the speakers at the store. Then you can cycle through the up stream components in the used market until you are compfortable with your overall sound.
Good luck...this is a fun journey you are embarking on.