What's your biggest surprise in hifi?

Direct-drive and Idler-drive turntables.

The goodness and sometimes the superiority of MM and MI type cartridges that cost hundreds of dollars, rather than thousands.

That, contrary to what someone else wrote above, incremental improvements to my system have made mediocre LPs sound better, often much better, rather than worse.

Taters: I'm talking about equipment manufacturers. And the driving force is economics. As long as there is money to be made, people will enter the market to compete. And since high-end is "dying", where is this money coming from?

1. That stock fuses degrade the sound so spectacularly. 

2.  That there aren't enough vinyl records on the planet to ease my addiction. 

3.  That red book CD's can sound spectacular. 

4.  That I'm not bothered by a few glitches, clicks or pops on live recordings ... but audience noises like coughs are really starting to annoy me. 

5.  That ARC has a new REF-6 on the  market and there's not one residing on my equipment rack. 

6.  That as I get older and into my later years, music is even more enjoyable now than when I was a kid ... and that's really saying something.