Best Component Ever, for the money

For me, for electronics, it has to be the Meitner PA-6i/MTR-101 combination, last manufactured in the early 1990s, but still serviced and upgraded by Museatex (www.museatex.com). I've had this pre-power set in my main system for seven years. I keep bringing in other amps and preamps, some much more expensive, that I hope will improve upon them, but none has yet displaced them.

For sources, it would be the venerable Technics SP-10MKII turntable, preferably mounted, not on the beautiful "obsidian" plinths that Technics made, but on a 20-30 kg DIY composite plinth of Corian, birch plywood, and MDF.

My speaker mega-favorite is the Tannoy System 15 DMT II: when I think these come as cheap as $1500-1800 on the used market (though prices appear to be rising), I'm absolutely gob-smacked.

The Cayin TA-30
Just go listen to one as soon as you can (regardless of price)

Dahlquist DQ-20i's. Scan-speak mid and tweet drivers with a magnat 10in woofer. Not a flawless speaker, but for the $ very hard to beat.IMO

Proac response 2, any mid to late 70s' open reel tape deck.

Sonus Faber Extrema (incredible speakers). $14K back in 1992
which was a lot of money then. Today they would be hard to beat for $30K. That is how great these speakers are.

Marantz SC-7S1 (absolutely one of the best preamps you'll ever hear). I had sold my Levinson 32 preamp after the purchase of the Marantz SC-7S1. This preamp is one of the best kept secrets out there.

These are a couple of the best components ever for the money. I have a few more since owning several systems but these are the first two that I highly recommend.