Few things:
-You can bring useful things to a meet that aren't audio-related. Think along the lines of food and drink.
-Texas is home to Cavalli Audio. I'd look into that. If I'm not mistaken, Dr. Cavalli was kind enough to let MorbidToaster borrow a Liquid Fire.
-Set a budget. The audio hobby can spiral out of control very fast. There was recently a thread where some guy was talking about taking a loan to buy audio equipment. The pitfalls to doing something like that are obvious, so don't prioritize gear over fiscal solvency.
-The fun is in the journey. There's really no big rush to get to high-end. You also tend to have a better appreciation for the value of high-end once you have a better perspective of what's out there.
-You've mentioned the LCD-3 a few times. It costs nearly $2k. You shouldn't even be considering making an expenditure like that without hearing it first. Some of the early adopters didn't like the headphones. You don't want to end up with an unpleasant surprise.
-Try to attend CanJam. You can listen to a ton of gear across a wide price point distribution, without having to make a large monetary commitment. It's a good way to narrow down your options and find what you like.
-Read. A lot. Senior members drop pearls of wisdom regularly, so heed their words. However, don't take your forum readings as gospel. Trust only your ears. (Also, feel free to ignore post counts. Just because somebody has 1500+ posts does not necessarily make them a repository of useful information.)
-The best bang for the buck is in DIY.
Hope that helps.
