Your experience in "in their day" brands/components that you remember foundly?

I could never afford any HiFi gear until I became a young adult and went into the army. There I purchased my first CD player Sony CDP-101, SAE P101 preamp, SAE 501 amp, DBX noise reduction and equalizer, Akai Reeel to Reel, JBL L100 and Bose 901 speakers

1976 - Marantz 2270, Empire 698/Microacoustics 2002, Infinity Monitor 1A's, Polk Cobra Cable. Soon added a Spectro Acoustics preamp and Discwasher Gold Ens IC's.

Bose 901's

30 years back I made one last purchase as a single man before marriage. Counterpoint sa-2000 & sa-220. Nad 5000, Mirage M5si.   Compared to my prior Nad receiver and home made speakers using radio shack drivers and crossover I felt like I went to audio heaven.

Double Large Advents, KLH 5s, ESS AMT1s, Dahlquist DQ-10s, Ampzilla, Fulton Js, Apogee Full range, KSA 50, c-j, Versa Dynamics TT, IRS Vs, RS1s, CLS, Spica SC50s, Dayton-Wright stats driven by Futterman H3aa monos, Alsyvox, Acora, Von Schweikert, GTAW, McGary, SoundLab, Lampizator.