Your first component that was "special"

zavato and kenny

IIRC

From suburban NJ, it was a NJ Transit train to Penn Station then a shuttle to Grand Central and a 7 train out to Shea Stadium.  Mostly when the Dodgers were in town,  as my family had moved out to Jersey from Brooklyn.

Last time I did that was probably 1970 or 1971. I live in LA now, so it's definitely long ago and far away!

BTW, I probably live only 25 miles from Dodger stadium now, but - with LA traffic - the car ride  often takes longer than the three trains from Jersey did back in the day.  I guess that's progress for you.

70 or 71? Hope you got to see Seaver pitch. I did. He was a childhood hero. And #41 is the only player number the Mets have ever retired (of course, Jackie Robinson's number is retired throughout baseball). 

And the Mets lost another one tonight.This time to the Giants former Polo Ground  tenants.
Living in Manhattan my subway was underground.
Family moved to South Jersey and we had Trolly cars.
Now living in Arizona, if public transportation is needed your in BIG trouble.
Anyway Re: the subject at hand.Back in the day everything sounded good to me. And everything was in for service within 2 months of purchase (well maybe not everything ) An eye or ear opener for me was the DBX expander

ADS L980 loudspeakers.  They gave me a sense of what is possible in sound reproduction.  It was up to me to take it from there.

The first time I heard the Koss electrostatic earphones.....I couldn't believe recorded music could sound this good. (50 or so years ago)