In my peer group, nothing had move impact than the original Large Advents. Next in line came the Dahlquist DQ-10 and early Magnepans. As far as electronics, early Audio Research, Conrad Johnson and early Classe were what myself and most of my friends cut their "audio ears" on.
Old man pointing and wheezing,. I remember when........
I am happy for all of you (us) that have been in this rat race....er, ah Hobby for sometime and remember your own Golden Oldies. Some that I remember fondly:
Pioneer PD-65
Advent Receiver
Original Large Advents
Dahlquist DQ-10
Martin Logan Sequel
Original Monster cables/interconnects
These were some of the beginnings. I had the CJ-ART, many Audio Research units..and other big names, but I expected those to be good. That little Advent Receiver was not expected to be much...but really gave much pleasure and growth to my audio journey (a nod to Steve Perry)