First off, I have to say I've always preferred tone quality and imaging over ear-bleed treble and kick-me-in-the-guts bass. In any case, I've been gobsmacked several times during the decades of my audio-nut existence. AR-3's and then Tannoys in the 1960's. Magnaplaners had me enthralled at the store...until I deigned to move my head a fraction of an inch to tell the salesman how good they were. Quads killed me with their imaging and string tone but they made the Maggies seem omni-directional. No bass, either. Gobsmacking led to a purchase when I bought a pair of KEF Corellis. String tone! The Corellis' penchant for blowing tweeters, though, eventually got me to purchase a set of Celestion SL-600's. Yes, I killed a couple of those tweeters, too, but the imaging and cleanliness of the sound kept 'em around for a dozen years. Now I'm just some dumb old audiophile, loving the heck out of my NOLA Boxers.
When was the first time that you heard great sounding speakers?
For me it was 1977 at Purchase Radio in Buffalo NY. My brother and I were putting together a system that we would share at our parents house. The song was Aja by Steely Dan on a pair of Altec 19's that blew my mind at the time, I'll never forget it. They were a little out of our price range at the time. The system ended up being a Sherwood receiver, KLH speakers, a Technics SL-1950 and a cassette deck that I can't remember the make. Great memory!