Your experience in "in their day" brands/components that you remember foundly?

While stationed in Germany between 1979 and 1987, I bought the following equipment: Teac X-10R R2R, Pioneer PL-1000 TT with Pickering cartridge, Technics SL-1200  TT with Pickering cartridge, Rodec SM 200 mixer, Pioneer SPEC-4 power amp, SoundCraftsman SP-4001 Pre/EQ, dbx 224 tape noise reduction unit, dbx 3bx range expander, and Bose 901's w/ Bose EQ.  

I kept the R2R, but gave everything except the 901s to my son in 2019.  I gave the Bose 901's and EQ to my goddaughter.

In the mid-90's, I bought a McIntosh system: MC-2600 amp, MC-31v control unit, MCD7007 CD Player, MR7083 Tuner, and JBL L100 speakers.  I sold the McIntosh system in 2021.  I gave the JBL L100 speakers to my nephew.

Both systems sounded wonderful to my ears and to everyone else who heard them at the time.  Everything that I gave away is still working fine.

Sansui model 7 receiver, Dual turntable, empire cartridge, Realistic Optimus 1 speakers, Realistic reel to reel. My first stereo!

A Golden Tube SE40 plucked me from the NAD/Adcom components I had been using in the early 90's and into the vacuum tube world.  Oh what fun it was to roll different 6DJ8's in that amp.  And mine didn't even blow up, like most of them!  

It was the first move among MANY in the mid- and late-90's.  I'd hate to count how many components went in & out back in those days.

Onkyo A 10. What a great amp it was.

The brands that rocked my hifi world (in no particular order):

McIntosh, ESS, Nakamichi, SAE, Thorens, Rabco, Audio Alchemy, K'Horns, huge Infinitys, DBX, Hafler, Dahlquist, Acoustat.

Often overlooked and under-appreciated:

The Magical Music Boxes of KLH.  These simple, compact systems would fit on a piece of furniture that the customer already owned and brought high quality music to tight spaces and even tighter budgets.  Featured Garrard turntable with Pickering cartridge and acoustic suspension KHL speakers that could hold their own in a very competitive speaker market at the time.