Curious what other people have in their systems that’s a total sleeper. Mine would have to be a pair of Pioneer S-Z9. They were released circa 2008 bundled with a pioneer network integrated amp. Original MSRP was $1800 USD for the system. I ended up buying these off Canuck audio Mart new old stock (sealed in the original boxes) for $200 Canadian shipped.
They actually were a collaboration with kef, with the drivers originally starting off as 7th Gen UniQ drivers but use TAD (also owned by pioneer) carbon/Plastic/ injection molded matrix cones (3 layer) to improve cone stiffness and dampening, Instead of the molded ridges kef uses on there poly drivers. They are pioneer cast aluminum baskets as well. Crossover also appears to use high quality brands on the caps.
They are very well built, piano gloss finish, 21 pounds, and have a frequency response of 36hz-50khz!! Seriously I have never heard bookshelf speakers this size that go so low!
They are 4ohm and only rated for 50 watts RMS but I’ve been using them at my computer with a bel canto s300i (300 watts RMS into 4ohms) and they sing!
It has to be my 1974 B&O 4002 Turntable. I am the original owner. I worked all summer in Alaska to buy it for $750 back when today’s $500K suburban house sold for $22K! I have used it gently and maintained it ever since. It’s a marvel of design and engineering. It’s all discrete component filled circuit boards have not a single integrated circuit on them and its tangential arm system uses optical sensors and servo motors. And it’s a fully suspended table yet it’s under 4" tall with dust cover!
I will be temporarily replacing it with a Technics SL-1200 MK7 with a Grado Sonata 3 Cartridge while the B&O is out of service for maintenance and some significant updating and restoration.
It will be out of service while I CAREFULLY recap and replace transistors and other components on the B&O’s circuit boards as well as recap its power supply and re-infuse its bronze sleeve motor bearings in the platter’s AC motor with oil. The synthetic watch oil used for the tonearm bearings and in the adjustable and damped arm cueing mechanism cost me $40 for 2 milliliters. I’m glad that I don’t have to use that stuff everywhere! Also, all the micro-incandescent bulbs used to illuminate the speed controls and used in all its optical systems will be replaced with custom LED units that will outlive me. I expect it to take me at least a year since I have to replace and then test each component as I go.