Which components knocked you out on first listen?

A pioneer open reel tape deck with ANY factory pre-recorded tape ( Preferably an Ampex or Magtec at 7&1/2 inches per second)

I was 12 years old and my next door neighbors father had Klipschorn speakers and McIntosh amps. I listened to that system untill I was 18 years old. I had to wait 25 years before I could get myself a pair. In those 25 years I never heard anything that sounded as real as the Klipschorns. I now have three pairs in a home theater set-up.

Demos of the following were so dramatically better/different from what I was used to listening to, the experience was thrilling:

Wilson Maxx/Halcro multi-channel system at CES.
Apogee Scintilla, Apogee Diva/DAX
Custom Speaker system utilizing giant Western Electric midrange horns.
Custom made OTL amps (not even a blocking cap on the output)
S.A.P, J-2001 (twin) speakers*
Audionote Kageki (uk) SET amplifiers*
Audionote DAC-5 Signature digital-analog converter
NAIM CDS3 CD player*
The big @ $50k TAD speakers (too bright and hard sounding for me to want to own it, but transient attack is absolutely amazing)
Overkill Audio speaker with Manger driver

Items marked with * I actually have purchased.

H2O Signature. It is By far the best amp I have ever heard.

the Von Gaylord LAD-L2 Preamp. I sold a BAT VK51 SE after hearing this pre and i think it can hold it's own with the VTL