One Component You Would Never Change One Type You Would Return To

@jasonbourne71 I feel much the same about my Quad 2905 speakers: keeping them is not negotiable. I have replaced all the panels in them and they should see me out. Curiously, while they were out of service for that, I went back to a pair of old DCM TimeFrame 700 speakers that are as close to electrostatic sound as you can get without actually going all the way. The immediate responsiveness for transients is something you can't forget. That may be why I love my other keeper component, the London Decca Reference.

my McIntosh mx110Z Tube Tuner/Preamp. It sounds soooo good, and is full featured. (I might have it shipped straight to Audio Classics by the seller).

I hope my unique speakers outlast me (just re-coned the 15" woofers made in 1958 with re-cone kits I had in stock: new identical re-cone kits no longer available), but if they die, I would have two choices (all new drivers and crossovers, and level controls in the existing Rosewood box) (existing or new cloth wrapped face panel) or, back to my former JSE Infinite Slope Model 2’s. I would not confuse myself with any other choices.

@hifiguy42 

WARDEN cracked me up! Thanks for that.

You are whom I encourage to get thee a tube tester, some of your good vintage tubes might sound better than new ones. Or, at least you would know which are good to keep for spares, even temporarily.

Craig doesn't accept returns so there is that.

I have a long history of regretful buys, regretful sales, and re-buys. Some of those re-buys have been successful; others not so much. Maybe 50/50. Some items I've even re-bought for a 3rd try (even 4th in a couple cases) - those don't work out. I've learned to (try) and stop myself before a 3rd buy. It means there's something I strongly like about the component, but also something I very much dislike. 

Big Tannoy DC speakers with pepperpot / alnico drivers are the cornerstone of my speaker setups. They have been for over 15 years, and are my "forever". Collected a few of them now, so can't tie it down to a specific one besides Canterbury / Kensington. Also love some of their cheaper "tulip" DC models, but for a main speaker I'll prefer the pepperpots. 

Electrostatics are the cornerstone of my headphone setup (10+ years), but after a long time running Stax SR-009, I switch to ES Lab headphones. The longer I use e-stats, the more "wrong" other types sound. The real problem is amping them - it's hard to find an e-state amp that sounds really good, then hard again to keep it running. I've had more problems here than any other component type.

I love my SOTA turntables and really didn't need those expensive side-quests to other brands, though it was fun. Successful return-to's include Rogue Hera preamp and Hagerman Trumpet phono (the old wood tower). Their sound just jives with me, even as I've had / have MUCH more expensive components from other brands.