Your first component that was "special"


I got into hifi 40 years ago. I had a Pioneer receiver, Kenwood table, various entry level cartridges (ADC, Stanton, Empire) and Studio Design speakers. I wound up buying a Shure V15 Type 3 cartridge. That was the first piece of gear I bought that was way beyond ordinary. I had kept the cartridge until about 2o years ago- I sold it because by then no decent replacement stylus was available. Wish I still had it.

128x128zavato
Magnepan Tympani IVa speakers, driven by a Bryston amp, coupled with an Apt Holman pre-amp. All classics of the late '70s/early '80s, and I have little doubt that the system would still sound good today.
I second mizike, it was Knowledge.  Which led to better speaker placement, then a multibit external dac for digital, a tube stage in the chain with the right tubes, an amp that was a good match for my speakers, the right interconnects, proper settings on my pre, and impedance matching for system synergy.  It finally all came together for addictive sound.
Croft Micro in 1987. My first taste of tubes. I rewired it with Holco resistors, doubled up the power supply for each channel and swapped  the ECC82 for a black plate CV5042, it was so much better than anything I'd heard like Naim, Classe etc.
Nakamichi 682ZX cassette deck. It cannot take everything from my Nottingham Spacedeck table but it sounds great for a cassette player. Nottingham is also quite special for me.