"Giant Killer" The things legends are made of.


There is no way that I will ever be able to be cutting edge in this hobby. But there are some "timeless" pieces of gear that will stand the test of time for years to come.
What are the giant slayers that you have had. Help me please separate the myth from legends.
Like good music, is there any gear that will live forever?
brownsanandy
The legend in its own lifetime, LS3/5a.

B&W advertised their 6 series speakers having "Voice coils of God" its actually the LS3/5a's which posesses it. They have also been compared to the planars but not having the larger than life size presentation, which the planers have been criticised for. Chartwells 15 Ohm version are the most sought after LS3/5a's even today.
Placette Remote Volume Control ($1,000). For single source and with proper impedance matches between source and amp this passive preamplifier will be competitve with any preamplifier at any price. Mine replace a CAT SL1 -- a great preamplifier, but more than I needed in my system.
The NAD 3020 integrated amp had a retail price of $175 when new. It's phono stage was quite good at the time and offered amazing details and dynamics for a small 20WPC amplifier. It sounded too good for its pricetag.

The Airtech MG-1 Air Bearing Linear Tracking Tonearm. This Linear tracker costs a mere $699 and performs comparably well with tonearms costing 3X as much.

Denon DL103 Moving Coil cartridge. This forty year old design is still around for one simple reason. It's good--very good. I've found only subtle differences when compared side by side with cartridges costing $1500. For my opinion, the differences are not enough to justify the difference in pricetag.