Why did you purchase the equipment you have and what do you like most about it?

@drbarney1 great post. Build with purpose. Research equipment and have make moves accordingly.  Exactly what I did with my stuff. Hans at Infigo used to work for the guys that invented the Ess Sabre chip.  

This is a fun topic. Thank you to everyone who shared their inspiration and outcome. As I read so many people talking about dealers, it reminded me of the used hi-fi shop where I went to buy a stereo for my first apartment (late 70s). I was asking about some consumer brand receiver. The young sales kid said, yeah that's fine. I followed up his noncommittal response with a what else is there? He pointed to a Tandberg they had repaired and said, this is a whole other level. And thus it began...

My Ideon EOS dac had been the only thing I've listened to before purchase. 

I have always loved music and worked on improving my car systems in high school and had my LXI Series all in one floor standing system that I lusted over for quite a while in the ol Sears catalog.  I had my Bose period in my 20s when I had the AM-5 home theater system.  Next I got a pair of Cerwin Vegas from Crutchfield and was like, what the hell!!  Where was all this sound with my Bose speakers??  haha   Later I got what I consider my first hi-fi pieces, a demo B&K preamp and some entry level Platinum Audio speakers.  I tried a variety of amps and ended up with a Parasound HCA 2200ii.  That kept my happy for several years and then I was curious of tubes and almost exactly 8 years ago I picked up some Audio Research Classic 120 monos here on Audiogon.  I did basically no research but loved the idea of mono blocks and they looked super cool.  From there I got an Audio Research preamp and phono...both from the same era.  I spent the next 6.5 years upgrading through their lineup with several models to end up with what is basically their latest lineup, sans MkII and SE models.  I picked up some Wilson Audio speakers also about 6 years ago so my system has come a long way that brings me so much enjoyment.  I do not have a dealer near me so was never able to audition anything....everything purchased used...if I didn't like it or when it was time to upgrade, I sell it and buy the next piece.  It is a lot of fun and sometimes a little stressful when things aren't selling.  One of my faults is being a bit too autonomous to the point where it is very difficult to let someone help me on a project.  I'm not sure if I had the money and lived near a dealer if I would have done it any differently.  I am picking up my next speaker contender on Wednesday....love it!