What were some of your early Hi-End audio gear/influences?

Not long ago I bought a pair of mint New Large Advents - with the bullnose cabinet. You might be surprised how well these fare when paired with some modern ancillaries. I prefer them over many modern designs, upwards of $3K. They handily outperform most $1500 speakers in the current retail market. 

My passion began around 1989 with a modest pair of Yamaha full range speakers with big 12” woofers, a modest Yamaha stereo amp and a Sony CD Player that I begged my dad for and he saved for months to get me for my birthday (we were a blue collar family and this was a huge expense). I carried that rig to college, to NY for my first job and back to Atlanta for my second job before upgrading them. I am sure they would hurt my ears today, but they still sound amazing in my memory and remind me of my dad to this day. 

Oh I forgot the DQ-10's.
They were pretty sweet.
Unfortunately, I had no money then...
B

When I graduated High School in June 1971, most of my friends bought motorcycles with their graduation money.  I didn't, I bought a Sansui 30wpc receiver, Rectilinear 1a speakers, Garrard turntable with a Shure MM cartridge, and a Sony Dolby B cassette recorder.  This was Sony's first Dolby B   cassette deck.  Since then I have spent way upwards of 6 figures on my audio addiction spanning 50 years.  Thankfully, I am extremely happy now and do not have any desire to do any major changes.  I may still futz with interconnects a bit but that is only  if I see a real good deal here.

My first musical sounding system featured Large Advents, which seems to come up a bit here.  I had them from late high school into my late 20's, when Vandersteen 2C's showed me there was clearly an even more inviting world of high end audio out there to enjoy your music on.