My Gateway may seem a little obscure, but it is true. When I was between two and three years of age I needed to have my tonsils removed (I'm 82 and it used to be a common practice.) My grandmother owned a funeral home and it was decided to give me a treat by letting me ride to the hospital in the funeral home's hearse. For kicks (so I was told) my uncle turned on the siren and the "music" from the siren is my first experience of any kind that I can remember. I have been chasing amazing audio experiences ever since. My first audiophile product was the trumpet I began playing in fourth grade followed by a 45 rpm turntable which was purchased after hearing Elvis singing Heartbreak Hotel. Becoming a serious audiophile happened when I heard a pair of Rogers LS35A speakers. The imaging blew my mind and I was hooked. A lot of audio gear has been bought and sold over the years and my current system consisting of Tannoy speakers, an Aric Audio Preamp, LTA DAC, Brinkmann Bardo TT/Hana Red, and First Watt SIT 5 monoblocs keep the adventure alive.
the gateway product that turned you into an audiophile
@foggyus91 suggested/pushed/encouraged me to start a thread about this. It was related to Darko's post about 12 audiophile misconceptions. One was that we are all about music - vs gear. I think that subject has been chewed up already a 100 times. I am not sure anyone has anything new to say.
However, that made me think about the day I turned into an audiophile.
It was when I bought my first "gateway" product that was affordable but audiophile quality and led me to explore more and tweak and switch and experiment and never be fully content but always be smiling when I turned the power on. It's been about the sound and not the music and that's fine. But I realize now that those Monitor Audio speakers I bought from craigslist were my gateway drug 
Were you always an audiophile or was there such a moment and a piece of hardware that made the difference?
(Lastly, I am very uneasy and on the fence about this forum and starting a thread - for my last correspondence with the moderators. What I learned should bother anyone who cares about fairness or even the appearance of it. I can't discuss it because it will get removed - I tried, my comment lived for less than 5 minutes, )