What were some of your early Hi-End audio gear/influences?

Two big steps for me.

In high school I got a Fisher 105 compact FM/phono 3 piece system and it totally blew away my parents’ Magnavox console.

Almost 30 years later, I replaced my aging Rectilinear III Highboys with a pair of Thiel 3.6s. The quantum leap in sound quality sent me down the upgrade path for the rest of my system.

@keegiam , that depends on how old you are. The best of the 50s does not come close to the worst of the 90s. Certainly there is the best of any timeframe and still a good listen but trying to compare it equally with the best current offering it can never be as good. Technology advances. 
That's not to say that yesterday's best cannot be better than today's worst.  But at some point, depending how far back you go, today's worst will beat yesterday's best every time. IMO

@gillatgh:  "today's worst will beat yesterday's best every time."

There you go again.  So the latest mass-market Onkyo preamp beats a 70's Audio Research SP3?  And you might want to A/B a pair of 50's Quads against a pair of current big box store cheapies.


I would avoid such extreme, absolute pronouncements, but that's just me.

AR3a speakers, Dynaco PAS3 pre, Dynaco ST-70 amp, AR TT - 1969

I remember when Yamaha became one of the first line of Japanese made electronics that became accepted by many "audiophiles".   The B-1 and B-2 were very interesting in their day.