I’m not calling you a reactionary, just seen way too many people maintaining “this is fine” for issues that are anything but.
pipewire sucked a lot for the longest time, at least for several setups I know. but it got better and more dependable by getting forced onto users. if it had waited to be 100%, it wouldn’t ever be in production.
this is a “build the plane while flying it” situation, if the stress on the vanguard is not for you, then step back for a while and try again in a couple of months, you have options.