Your first component that was "special"

I think that my DCM Time Windows were my introduction to what we call high-end sound.  I remember them being really good.  I also remember getting a Denon 103 cartridge for my Technics tt, which was a revelation compared to the moving magnets I'd used before.  

Back in 2005, so not until I was 50 years old, an Opera Audio a120 integrated hybrid amplifier (90W, 6H30 tube) was the first piece of audiophile kit I’d ever acquired. It was my Pandora’s box intro to the amazing world of hi-end audio that, until then, I never knew existed.

Coincident Frankenstein MK II SET amplifier. Despite the really fine power amplifiers I’d previously owned, the Frankenstein was a profound step upwards in home music reproduction and involvement. A true "breath of life " experience. 
Charles, 

Artemis EOS speakers. 

Back in University days ...the early 70's...

These were the REALLY OLD days in audio with the sudden new introduction of bookshelf speakers and mass-produced receivers for the cohorts of boomers off to college.

COMPARATIVELY SPEAKING TO TODAY's OFFERING  ....is this "OLD" with matched "Old Technology" ?

 .... you betcha .....
(1) the college schoolbook photos consisted of crude drawings in a prehistoric cave wall in France;
(2) the college prom theme was "Fire", and
(3) the girlfriend's birthstone was "Lava".

I  sequentially moved up from a SONY receiver/ Garrard turntable / and either EPI / DYNACO bookshelf speakers to a new MARANTZ 2245 receiver, new ELAC Miracord table with a new SHURE V15 cartridge  and new JBL L100 "monitor" speakers.

FOR THEIR TIME (emphasis added) these JBL speakers with their "California sound" and roller-coaster spiked sine-curve frequency response  for treble, midrange, and bass bands were the cat's ass with this rig that rocked the college dorm.

My misspent youth nostalgia aside, it is patently obvious now that none of this "vintage" gear can even compete with today's gear.

But for its time,  it was fun and served its purpose in a college dorm arena of free-flowing beer and ethereal misty veil of Maui Wowee.....

At my age now, some days I am still dazzling, but on other days I can leave my car keys in the fridge.  Better still, why can I still faithfully remember the lyrics of the rock anthems from 1964 - 1974 but I cannot remember why I came into the room ....(sigh)