What was the first system you heard that made you think the high end made sense


I am sure I cannot be the only person here who can recall the day, and indeed the very system that made them think 'oooohhhhh yesssss - I get it - I understand - and I absolutely love it!'

In my case I attended a HiFi Show in Heathrow at the Renaissance Hotel. It was the GT Audio room hosted by Graham Tricker. The parts comprised:

DPS turntable- Schroeder arm - jan allaerts cartridge
Tron Pre-amp
Avante Garde Uno's

In all honesty I still remember the day now. It was so musical and had the ability to connect me to the music. When I went for a full demo at Grahams home I came to understand the magic of horns, valves and imaging. 

lohanimal
Panasonic boombox. I thought it sounded so bad that to get a good sound I would have to have a high-end set-up.
ESS Transtatic speakers driven by an ARC SP-2C pre-amp and Dual 50 power amp, the source a Sony turntable with a Decca Blue cartridge mounted on the Decca International arm, in 1971. Pure lust. I heard the original Infinity Servo-Statics shortly thereafter, and starting saving. By the time I had the $ the following year, the Magneplanar Tympani-I's had made it to the West Coast, and I got myself my first serious system.
I had B&W 805 first generation. Around  year 1991
I hooked up  Krell KRC preamp and a Krell 200 watt amp I purchased used,
and I thought I had new speakers.  

R
Quad Esl 57, heard for the first time around 1970. I bought a Quad 33-303 amplifier the next year, after my high school exam, and a pair of Esl 57's a few year later again when I started graduate work and had the space to house them.
Spectro Acoustics Amp,Preamp, Equalizer and Tuner with Clarke Systems speakers a J A Mitchell Focus One Turntable bought the system that day. Added a Revox B 77 Reel to Reel. Nice system for 1980.