Equipment that has made you 'stop' looking?

Sansui AU 7700

Mission Cyrus 781 speakers

Starting point systems NOS dac

All these 3 are the end of my road, not only because they are hard to beat for their price /quality ratio...


But mostly because "anything good" will sound near the top if rightly embedded...But this is another story unbeknownst to most... :)

for me it's my simple integrated Naim xs2 amp in my second system and the xs3 amp in my living area system. perfect amps for living and listening. don't even think about replacing them.

ML326S preamp,
ML390S CD processor used as transport, ML36(S) DAC,
PASS X350.5 and last but not least,
Burmester 961, 3 way floor stander speakers, Transparent Ultra XLR,
Transparent Ref. digital XLR, 
StraightWire WaveGuide speaker cable, (definately NOT in bi-wire fashion).

If my music / living space would be much bigger - maybe, some Wilson Sasha DAW would be something to look out for (in place of another new car? 🤭) 
💐 
Michélle 🇿🇦 

I notice that many of the components listed are of the higher budget category, so here's something a little bit different.  I've tried what might be more in the "mid-fi" end of things.  Emotiva, Adcom, Parasound, Nad, and older components by Harman Kardon and Onkyo.

Still unsatisfied, although the experience was fun.  I also went through over a dozen pairs of speakers from Paradigm, Pioneer, Polk, Tannoy, Totem Acoustic, Infinity and Mission(everything mostly used, under 1500 except the Paradigm Signature S6 v2).  The Tannoys and Totems imaged the best and sounded more like live music to me.

And what complimented them well were components from Schiit Audio,  The Freya+ is simply the best preamp I've owned, and people rave about it.  I didn't realize it but mid-fi typically has too many compromises and affects/degrades the signal before it ever gets to your speakers.  Not the Freya+.  It's a true industry disrupter(saw another guy use that phrase and it really fits), so transparent and engaging and far better than anything I had before.  

The Schiit Vidar also performs far above its asking price, and their Aegir amp is on Stereophile's A list.  I've stopped looking for real, and started enjoying the music more.

My system, with all digital sources, has a P15 power regenerator, DirectStream CD/SACD disk transport & DirectStream DAC from PS Audio, Mytek Brooklyn DAC for streaming MQA, a Roon Nucleus Plus streaming server controlled from my iPad & Android smart phone, a Dell Windows10 Pro machine for iTunes, McIntosh C2500 tube pre-amp, McIntosh MC452 solid state power amp, driving a pair of Focal Sopra No2 speakers, and a pair of JL Audio F113V2 sub woofers, all connections with Wireworld cabling.

It's all boxed up, as we moved from MD to NC, as our new house (with a "bonus room") won't be ready until February or March....