Which components knocked you out on first listen?

Then and now. The first system that opened my ears to what audio was all about was in 1972-ish: Dynaco tube pre- and power amps, Garrard Zero100C turntable, and Pioneer CS99A (15" woofer, 4-way) speakers. Of course, in retrospect, it wasn't that spectacular but it was head and shoulders above the consoles (or portable radios) most of my friends' families listened to. So it got the journey started...

I've heard lots of great gear since then, but I still think my favorite was Wadia front end feeding VTL 7.5 preamp, with big Ayre amps driving Vandersteen 5a's in a well-treated room. Immediacy, pace, rhythym, really good tonal balance -- speakers disappeared and left the singer in the room with me. Sigh...

upon first listen, i've been knocked out by:

Dodson DA-218 DAC
Reimyo CDP-777
Vandersteen 5A
Aesthetix Callisto
Placette active linestage
Silversmith Audio Silver and Palladium cables

Klipschorns and Tannoy Little Reds.

Back in 1976, I heard a pair of Frasier loudspeakers (model unknown but they were about the size of small refrigerators). They were driven by a 350 wpc Phase Linear amp and Phase Linear auto correlation preamp. Dunno what kind of turntable and cartridge. For the first time, it seemed like the musicians were in the room with me. It started me down the audio path in one listen.

When I first had to do something pro, this was my first experience - back in college. I boggled at how life-like and artifact free that first master was.