"Giant Killer" The things legends are made of.

NAD 3020 Intergrated Amp, NAD 7020 Receiver, Advent 300 Receiver, Superphon Revelation Dual Mono Preamp, Scott 340B
Tube Receiver, Amber Poweramps and Preamps, Sound Dynamics
RTS-3 Speakers...........

I'll second the JVC 1050 cdp. Oddly, I heard the 1050 in a system with a pair of vintage McIntosh tube monos.

B&K ST202
Superphon Revelation II
Bry

Pass Labs Aleph 3, Spica TC-50 and Angelus

Giant Killers IMHO must be reasonably affordable, have had an serious impact on the market and/or been outrageously good for the bux. So here are a few...

Speakers: Spendor BC1, Quad 57, Quad 63, LS3/5A, Vandersteen 2, Infinity IRS, Tannoy Concentrics, Wilson WATT

Turntables: Linn Sondek, Goldmund Studio, EMT, Garrard 301, Rega Planer

Phono Cart: Koetsu rosewood, Grado Sig, Grado FT+1, Shure V15, EMT, Decca

Tonearm: Goldmund T3, Morch DP/UP, Rega 300, SME 3/4/5, Sumiko "the arm"

Preamps: Audio Reserch SP6 series, Dyna PAS, Dennesen JC-80, Marantz 7, CAT, Hovland HP-100, Audible Illusions 3

Amps: Marantz 8/9, Mac tubes, Dyna ST-70, Audio Reserch D-79b, Adcom 555

Wires: Monster, Audioquest, Kimber (they made the market for better or worse...)

CD players: Errr...

Regards, Kevin