My experience in conceiving and installing ~50 hifi systems leads me to approach your question as follows:
#1 get the magic triangle right: Room-Speakers-Amp. There is no such a thing as a great amp or amazing speakers. But there is definitely great amp-speakers combinations that fit best in certain size/shape of rooms (Bakoon Amp13R with Sound|Kaos Vox3A, Lumin M1 with Kef LS50, First Watt SIT3 with widebanders such as Cube Nenuphars, Crayon CIA-1T with Boenicke W5, Ypsilon Phaethon with Lawrence Audio Double Bass)
#2 speakers positioning v listening position, vibration control, minor room treatment
#3 DAC/source
#4 Power treatment (this is household dependent, it goes from fundamental to barely no impact)
#5 Pre-amp (I use VRossi L2se but as good as it is it only adds the last 10% of pleasure + tube rolling options)
#6 Cables upgrade etc (provided that in the first place you used good ones)
#7 Exotic audio stuff that keep the fun going 😁(reclockers, hermoltz generators, LessLoss speaker firewalls, ...). Two more thoughts:
1. Having a proper active sub and a high-pass filter to drive the main speakers is the upgrade of a lifetime. This alone merits a detailed post.
2. Best to plan #1/2/3 ahead of time to ensure you achieve adequate system balance (avoid over-investing on a top-notch DAC like the Mola Mola Tambaqui R2R with a pair of Kef LS50 down the line) and system ‘character’ (this is personal but you’ll see with experience what kind of sound gets you to sing & dance vs merely checking if the drum kick goes down to 28hz or not 😱). Above all enjoy listening to the music you love and share your passion with friends & family!
#1 get the magic triangle right: Room-Speakers-Amp. There is no such a thing as a great amp or amazing speakers. But there is definitely great amp-speakers combinations that fit best in certain size/shape of rooms (Bakoon Amp13R with Sound|Kaos Vox3A, Lumin M1 with Kef LS50, First Watt SIT3 with widebanders such as Cube Nenuphars, Crayon CIA-1T with Boenicke W5, Ypsilon Phaethon with Lawrence Audio Double Bass)
#2 speakers positioning v listening position, vibration control, minor room treatment
#3 DAC/source
#4 Power treatment (this is household dependent, it goes from fundamental to barely no impact)
#5 Pre-amp (I use VRossi L2se but as good as it is it only adds the last 10% of pleasure + tube rolling options)
#6 Cables upgrade etc (provided that in the first place you used good ones)
#7 Exotic audio stuff that keep the fun going 😁(reclockers, hermoltz generators, LessLoss speaker firewalls, ...). Two more thoughts:
1. Having a proper active sub and a high-pass filter to drive the main speakers is the upgrade of a lifetime. This alone merits a detailed post.
2. Best to plan #1/2/3 ahead of time to ensure you achieve adequate system balance (avoid over-investing on a top-notch DAC like the Mola Mola Tambaqui R2R with a pair of Kef LS50 down the line) and system ‘character’ (this is personal but you’ll see with experience what kind of sound gets you to sing & dance vs merely checking if the drum kick goes down to 28hz or not 😱). Above all enjoy listening to the music you love and share your passion with friends & family!