The first system you had that was "high end/audiophile", by you standards

@tomic601 - and I'll bet that system can sound fabulous. I was supposed to hear a pair of Concert Grands or whatever the big daddy Bozak was (owned now by the son) but never happened. I'm using an MX110z in the vintage system, as you may know. Lots of tubes, knobs and chrome. Whoa! :)

@mijostyn:
The Marantz tube preamp has withstood the test of time. I gather than the ARC SP3-a-1 (updated to some other nomenclature) is also still a contender, though I found both the SP3 and the later sp10-mk ii, though glorious in some respects, to be simply too noisy for the Avantgarde horns. But, in the right system, with a different sensitivity to noise, and perhaps some mods (I did have the SP 10 back and forth to Minn. many times, including for some "hot rod" version), they are classics too.
I much wanted to put a Marantz 7 tube in the vintage system, but I didn’t want to pay the tariff given the nature of the system and the fact that I have another, "main" system to play. But, those are the bomb. After what, more than 60 years? ( suck at math)

In 1973, I had stacked Advents driven by the original Phase Linear 700 (no jokes please, I was 18 years old), a Quintessence preamp (rare bird, though Bill Leebens wrote about it somewhat recently) and a Technics SP-10 with custom plinth, a couple of arms and cartridges.
By 1975, I had done a complete about face-- all ARC tube stuff (still have that first ARC amp, though many followed it, all in the same vein --ARC tube stuff in the 60-75 watt/channel range) and Quad ESLs. I still have the Quads too, and after being refurbished, use them in my vintage system. I have owned that pair of speakers since around 1973-4.
It’s been a long road, but as others say, it’s the journey, not the destination.

@tomic601 - yep, there was that ARC v. C-J what sound are you after. I didn't keep up with C-J; met Bill Thalmann years later as an independent. The ARC stuff changed several times- they had that "analog module" or whatever it was called (one of the times I got to meet Wm. Z) and they went into their "white period" at a certain point-- sort of bleached, dry, more analytical. I don't really keep up with ARC either. I did buy a stash of parts, including tubes, for my ancient Dual 75a (which I am the first owner of, still have the warranty card and price list) before the company got sold the first time. 
The history of audio equipment is itself sort of a field of endeavor. I think I mentioned I was chatting with a designer of that Quintessence, and he built crossovers for ESS back in the day, and is still designing and making equipment. 
I did get to meet Peter Walker many years ago- he was pleasant, but I didn't rattle his cage. So much history, and I only know the obvious stuff. 
Somebody I knew at the gym had a pair of Dayton-Wright electrostatic in non-working condition. Go figure!
I'll bet even 1/2 a Concert Grand could kick ass.

@mijostyn- prices of Marantz 7 tube preamps are through the roof- I’d love to have one that was clean. Do you now regret selling it?
(I thought the "C" denoted "with cabinet," which was extra $, so I distinguish the 7 from its later transistorized counterpart by too many words-- the 7C designation was commonly used at one point to refer to the tube version of the preamp).

The original Phase Linear 700 (not the B with the rack handles and lit up face plate) was a statement piece- sort of industrial looking, but the 400 (I was slinging hi-fi as a kid) sounded better in my estimation.
One of the first true high end systems I heard was double KLH 9s with all tube Marantz gear. This was back before I had the money for any of this stuff- I was a kid.
My "mini-HQD" system with a single pair of Quads, the Decca ribbons and a small-ish powered sub (those were not as commonly available in the ’70s and early ’80s as they eventually became owing, I think, to the home theatre boom in the ’90s) was sweet sounding, but the coherence of the Quad was lost in the mixture of different types of drivers that were added top and bottom. I’d love to set up a full on HQD system but it would have to go in the main listening area- that set up is just too big for the front parlor where the Quads now reside.

+1 @tomic601 !
:)
You gotta be a little crazy to enjoy this as much as all of us do. 

@daledee1- Back in the '70s, we were all pretty much in the same boat as far as wire was concerned. You could find bigger gauge for speaker wire, and perhaps put together some home made interconnects, but it was Fulton, followed by the mass marketing of Noel Lee that got the whole cable thing going. Some of my early systems used molded plugs and zip cord.