Items That Have Been A Revelation on Your Hi-fi Journey

[pankon]

My revelation was the Croft SuperMicroII back in 1989. It just blew all competition away, irrespective of the price (i.e. even 3-5 times more expensive).
I am still enjoying it (with some upgrades since then).

[stevied]

Klyne 7 pre amp & a pair of stacked 57s

[killie99]

Impulse H2's.

I had been using Linn Kabers when I got the chance to buy a pair of H2's in 2002. On my nearly 40 years journey in HiFi this is the single biggest upgrade I have ever made, a true WOW moment. H2's were replaced in 2013 with Impulse Ta'us and in 2016 they were replaced with Monitor Audio PL300's. The MA's aren't necessarily better, just different.

[ff1d1l]

A Hi Fi shop owners own home system, mainly Quad using electrostatics, playing Osibisa when I was a teenager. Big Edinburgh new town room with round corners...Farkinelle....I was hooked.

Meridian M1's at Lintone Audio a few years later...bass guitar sounded like someone had plugged in and was playing along, in a good way.

A homebrewed system in South Africa, 3 ribbons along the Day Sequera lines, transmission line bass, Tannoy Autographs used as subs, driven mainly by a Radford STA 25. In a huge converted garage, this is still the best system I've ever heard by a considerable margin, and still the one I mentally measure up changes in my own system against. Not only capable of effortlessly imaging outside the speakers, it's party piece was imaging behind you, no kidding.

There might have been one or two Tannoy moments, too...I'm sure it can be imagined the kind of thing I'm talking about

[Macca]

A homebrewed system in South Africa, 3 ribbons along the Day Sequera lines, transmission line bass, Tannoy Autographs used as subs, driven mainly by a Radford STA 25. In a huge converted garage, this is still the best system I've ever heard by a considerable margin, and still the one I mentally measure up changes in my own system against. Not only capable of effortlessly imaging outside the speakers, it's party piece was imaging behind you, no kidding.

I guess this was an active set up? Analogue or digital?

[ff1d1l]

It was digital.
CD was Jolida and I believe the pre was Musical Fidelity. I think the magic was the speakers and the room. It wasn't active as such but possibly the Autographs had their own amp but can't exactly remember the configuration. Definitely no active crossover though.

Autos had HPDs in, that I do remember, and only the bass cone was driven. Not the lowest bass I've ever heard - he was an organ enthusiast - but very clean.