two pieces come to mind--first is my b&k avr-202, which had fantastic build quality, sounded great and had the best learning remote i've ever used. i "upgraded" to a more heavily featured denon, which sounds like shit in comparison.
the second is a cambridge d-500se cdp, which was an essentially flawless player i sold on impulse. i've not been able to replicate it at anywhere near the price.
