Hi Dave -
My first taste of real hi-fi was 1983 in the USAF (Eglin AFB, FL). A friend/airman Curt had just returned from Germany and was able to purchase nice gear at a discount and get delivered to his house in Fl. His system was a Hafler 500, Carver tube pre, Infinity RS2 speakers, SOTA TT w/ Grado. The system sounded great and I still remember it's make-up to this day. Unfortunately, I lost touch with Curt(wife Julie). I only had mid-fi systems thru the years (career, kids, life...blah blah). However, in 2004 our family was in Scottsdale, AZ on vacation and I was starting to reignite my interest. My teenage son and I went to an audio store and listened to a couple of different tube based systems. We were blown away as it sounded as if the musicians were performing at the back of the room. Well I've been trying to make-up for lost time since and haven't done too bad. Attending shows (RMAF 2x, AXPONA 2x), audio forums and some great folks on these sites have been very helpful!
Best,
Jay M.