Most eye-opening upgrade and what you learned

Would love to know about moments of light on the high-end audio learning curve.

My husband and I number among the academic poor ...
with preferences which substantially exceed our budget.
Nonetheless, we have managed an aha!! experience or
two of our own.

The mating of conrad johnson tube preamp with krell solid
state amp opened our eyes about the role of electronics
in creating presentation.

Listening to the revel salons set our standards for hearing music rather than sound from an audio playback system.

Know that many of you have deeper insight, am hoping you
will share.

Newcomer to audiogon
Judith