The secret to buying guitars online
 

Get good computer speakers and a DAC.

I have these:
https://www.amazon.com/Audioengine-A...engine+a5+plus

and this:
https://www.amazon.com/Audioengine-D...=AKR88PAWTQVN2

With this you can really hear the guitars that sound good at places like guitargal.com and dreamguitars.com or even youtube.

AFter listening to hundreds or thousands of guitars you will be able to spot the great ones that come up for sale online.

You could also use your AGF discount to get this exact rig from an AGF Sponsor :)

$50 bucks cheaper for the black speakers at amazon.

It's really a great investment if you want to shop for guitars online.

Is this still a secret?
Now everybody knows. :)

What’s the problem with good headphones?

I've been listening to recordings of acoustic guitars for sale, in comparison tests, etc. using high end DA and monitoring for close to 20 years.

The inconsistencies in these sources are legion and frequent..some are simply poor recordings (e.g., bad room, bad mic placement, lack of recording knowledge, etc.), some have poor or mediocre performances, some focus of strumming and flat picking (I'm not interested in that), among other issues.

For sure, some recordings are quite good and fire on all cylinders. But there are rare when compared to all the junk out there. But even the good sources do not tell me how the guitar sounds and behaves when I'm playing it, in my spaces, playing my music. That requires an in person audition.

Nothing, that works too! Just anything to get away from standard computer speakers. There are much better options out there these days.

I like my Rokit 8's for online guitar fidelity. Very clear for the price and your average sound card out. I have an iMac with pretty decent sound out.

I also have a pair of rokit 5's for recording that were bought for my computer but wanting to hear these dream guitars and utube tunes I have the fuller tone. Way better than the muddy Klipsch 5.1 w woofer of yesteryear.

Call an AGF sponsor and talk to them. Maybe they can meet the price. Even if they can’t meet the price, you may decide that talking to a real person who knows guitars is a better choice than clicking and hoping for the best. And, some just like to support the AGF community that provides so much by buying from sponsors whenever possible. YMMV

P. S. No recording can tell you what you can know by plucking an open D string once in person....let alone what you can know if you play a guitar for 15 minutes.

Youtube? Their compression algorithm can mess up recordings.
You'll always rely on the ability of the person making the recording to do it well - the mics, room, processing.