Best bang-for-buck purchase you have made?

Denon DL103R. An outstanding cartridge for around $200. Not available in the US, but if you are very good at researching sources, you can get them.

The other great bang-for-buck item I think is Lowther speakers. If you can DIY a cabinet, they will give unbelieveable sound for under a grand. The clarity and coherence of Lowthers is incredible.

2 that I can recall.

Paradigm 3se mk III mini speakers- I bought them back in the mid 80s for ~$250 new. Great speakers for the price, I sold them quite a long time ago. I can still recall the great performance for the price.

Recent- Classe DR6 preamp bought here on the 'gon for $950. A near vintage piece with a wonderful phono stage. I outgrew my B&K Pro10MC and did not want a outboard phono preamp to make my system more complex than it is. It was an ideal solution.

16ft. pair of Acoustic Zen Satori speaker cables for $955 new. It might not sound cheap, but what you get for the money is a steal.

Some of the best bang for the buck purchases I made I actually paid full price for. Nixon DAC, Furutech power distributors, Eichmann, Bogdan, Wolff cables and Carolina speakers to name a few.

I have two both are analog. I bought a Teac TN400 Turntable with Stay UA7 arm in 1976. It's direct drive. It floats the platter on a magnetic field and its pretty impervious to shock when on a stable platform. It has capacitive controls with a 7 lb. machined platter. I paid less than $300.00 bucks for the whole thing. I have been using this turntable every since then through countless moves. It sounds better than most and never fails to work.

My second item is a used Linn LP12. I bought it with an Itok with a Supex 900 and Basik arm. for $400.00 bucks back in the eighties. I had it modded to the Valhalla shortly thereafter. And yes the Supex still works fine and so does the table. (I didn't use the Supex for almost ten years).