Combinations that exceeded your expectations?

Vandersteen 2C/3A speakers have always had a special synergy with McCormack amps, IMO. I would also nominate the Levinson M37 transport and 360S DAC, assuming they're connected with a great digital cable, ie Cardas AES/EBU. But then you would expect products from the same company to work well together. Oddly, the Madrigal AES/EBU cable did not work well with this combo though-- too analytical. Cheers. Craig

Thanks to Albert Porter I recently tried a number of isolation tweaks and of all things... the relatively inexpensive Mod Squad Soft Shoes made my CD's sound as if I'd upsampled them. Go ahead, try and take it from me! Also, I heard a Musical Fidelity HT600 amp at a friends, and never forgot it. It has endless reserve and never chokes, no matter how hard you push it, or what speaker you connect it to. It always retained its character no matter what cables or power cord I tried. I have never been happier with any audio product (with the possible exception of owning Duane Allman's Marshall 100 amp for about 5 years, but that's another story!) It made more of a difference than any interconnect or cable switch in getting me closer to the truth. I would think very carefully before "upgrading" it. Those two pieces combined with my Acoustic Zen Reference Silver interconnects give me that "musicians are in the room feeling", and a few chills occasionally.

BAT VK30 preamp, YBA CD Integre CDP, and the real sleeper, Linn Classik. The Classik is quite simply the best value in audio today and MUST be considered for your second or third system. It's that good. Sold my NAD L40 in a heartbeat, not even close in terms of sound. This stuff represented a MAJOR step up in my listening enjoyment and matched perfectly with the rest of my gear. Jeez I love BAT preamps...

About 10 or 12 years ago, I walked into my first hi-end audio store and heard beautiful music from one of the rooms. I walked in and saw a record player, vacuum tubes & strange looking speakers. It was a Sota turntable, conrad-johnson PV something pre-amp & MV50? power amp, into Spica Angelous speakers... What a fantastic synergy! Of all the components I've heard since that day, only Magnepan MGIIIa's, 3.3r's and my Pass Aleph 3 have made that much of an impression on me... A close second is my Rowland Model 2 with BPS & the current Pass Labs X series amps.
I have to admit, I'm really skeptical now when I read about some breakthrough product in the audio press. 99% of the time, the product is a big letdown...

ARC 100/2 power amp, Audible Illusions preamp, Gallo Nucleus Reference Speakers. This is an unbelieveable combo. I have been into audio for 25 years and I am finally satisfied. Now I just concentrate on enjoying music.