Which components knocked you out on first listen?

Jadis JA 200's

Apogee Scintilla. The first time I heard one I was convinced I was hearing the real thing hidden away. I have never heard a more convincing speaker. I was awe struck.

it was 1988 in montreal mirage m1 with classe amp,preamp,dont remember cdp but stil looking for better one

Nestorovic System 12 in Mile's basement. I traveled to Seattle on business last week. While in the area I wanted to stop by Nestorovic Labs and check out their latest speakers. When I arrived I discovered Nestorovic Labs was at Mile Nestorovic's house.

His wife answered the door and I got to meet the man himself. His laboratories and demo rooms are in his basement. Armed with Roger Waters’ album, “Amused to Death” we demoed his System 12. Mile, my son, & I listened together. I don't know if he enjoyed my tunes (he's a classical buff), but I was totally blown away.

For those interested--he had a Sonic Frontiers preamp, an Accuphase CD player, a Sony super-CD unit, a Kyocera turntable, Nestorovic NA-1 tube mono amps running the Type 4's, and a large Nikko power-amp running the Type 8's.

I dropped by his home without an appointment thinking the address was to a business, yet he was a very gracious host. Anyone thinking about an audition probably ought to call first, but it was a treat.

my top 'knocked out on first listen' would have to be a few weeks back with the Rockport Sirius III turntable. i had driven 1800 miles over 36 hours to go pick it up from it's former owner. i purchased it without ever hearing it.....it took 4 hours to disassemble and load into my SUV (all 600 pounds worth) and then after driving back we disassembled my Sirius II and set-up the III. when i first dropped the needle i thought something was wrong....everything had slowed way down....then i realized that there was so much more information in every note that it created the illusion of much more of a look into the musical message. i was literally floored with what it did.

i had anticipated it being good but until i heard what it did i just was not prepared for it.

my top "unexpected" knocked out experience would have to be my first experience with the Tenor amps. i had arrived at a friends home late one evening to return a demo pair of amps i had decieded to buy.....i casually sat down to briefly listen before unloading my car....and whammo! the clarity, resolution and top to bottom coherence just grabbed me. i was very familiar with my friends system so the differences were profound. i was in love at first listen and have lived happily ever after with the Tenors.