Things that “blow your mind”

The first time I listened to an all Quad system.  And it produced...music.  Those ugly old speakers could float an image like nothing else.

Save for my acoustics experiments which really blew my mind...

Save for my AKG K340 which hybrid design blew my mind ...

 Here another set of experiments linked to gear optimization that blew my mind in my actual near field listening from my acoustically controlled room corner : 

I lived through 6 huge improvement since beginning to drive my audio system battery dac SPS NOS Philips TDA 1543 from my computer USB :

1: using  linear power supplies (old vintage sino-Ameican one at low cost ) ...
2 : Using filter station with a buffer station device from Aliexpress at few peanuts costs ...
3: Using a DDC Douk U2 pro Xmos Xu 316  (low cost )
4: Using a Jack isoub isolator from aliexpress powered by a battery bank (low cost) 
5: using low cost Schuman battery generator on the dac and and on my others filters+buffer stations for my pre-amp and for the one driving the dac too...Even some on my 2 linear power supply... Peanuts cost for each devices...
6: homemade grounding boxes for my devices ( almost no cost save for the minerals)

My low cost system slightly over 1000 bucks in near field listening makes me smile and laugh at possible upgrade because of the greater amount of money necessary now to really beat a 1,200 bucks audio system optimized ...

I listen music no more the sound quality ...

 I can say that there is no relation between a system/room qualitative experience  before mechanical,electrical and acoustical optimization and after this process... No relation. Period. Then before upgrading anything if your system pieces are minimally synergetical together optimize the system and the room.

Upgrade  urge is a placebo effect for acoustics ignorance half the time ...Think about this before throwing money to erase frustration ...

I could upgrade my system/room, but anyway i dont have the new room to go with bigger speakers, and i dont want to because i dont need to to enjoy very good S.Q. 

And upgrading my optimized  AKG K340 is nearly impossible at any cost... Perhaps the Sennheiser orpheus ? Cost minimum 50,000 USD .... 

I exclude the My-sphere and the Raal which lack deep bass...I already had an "out of the head" sound experience and speaker like sound with the K340...

I learned also in audio that the best for me is not what is the better for everyone else...

The way music sounds when under the influence of a particular substance (probably shouldn’t mention it here). Made me realize that most audiophiles have only scratched the surface of how music can sound and feel. Under these particular conditions, music played through a pair of Air Pods sounds better than any six-figure system and it’s not even close. 

The most memorable was the very first time I heard the debut album by "It's a Beautiful Day" at a uniquely bizarre party held shortly after the album was originally released. I'll spare young readers the details, but it was an amazing night...one indelibly etched in my memory.

A couple of years later, I saw the group performing with Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band at an abandoned theater in Long Beach, California and it was equally memorable.

The third most mind blowing musical event was seeing The Mothers perform just after "Freak Out" was issued.

First time visiting a friend's family getaway on a lake in Wisconsin for a week, years ago, and listening only to A windup tabletop Victrola and an old but nicely functioning tube radio. After a few days of listening to great performances on the Victrola, I realized that it was easy to forget about surface noise and listen to what are basically direct-to-disc recordings.  There's a, I don't exactly know how to describe, but at times, a startling clarity to the recordings.  I enjoyed it immensely, almost like a clearing out of modern electrically generated sound, and more like the real thing.  Something like that.  And no TV.