And the biggest influence on sound quality is...

This is a fun thought experiment.

If your source is LP, then I would argue that your playback system (turntable, arm, cartridge, setup) is most important.  Imagine you had near mint pressing of Kind of Blue or Aja, and you played it on a $35 Crossley.  It would sound like sh*t.  However, given a decent playback system, the recording is next.

Digital is very different as you can get acceptable sound from a modest or inexpensive source.  Here I would put the recording quality first.

Then it gets difficult.  Speakers are very important but require a suitable amplifier and proper setup in a room that they work well in.  Too many dependencies, but if I had to rank: Speakers > Set-Up > Room > Amplification.  Then comes the fun of cables, power, and tweaks.

Two separate issues are being conflated here. The recording is not a part of the system, but an input to the system, and its quality is a fixed condition beyond the listener's control. The relevant question is what's the strongest determinant WITHIN the playback system/environment.

It’s first the quality of the recording in my experience. Garbage in, garbage out. Then the speakers and then the source - streamer or CD into the DAC. Then preamp, amp and finally cables. The room is a wild card. I have a system that travels between 2 places which are very different. One is a listening room that’s been treated and the other is an open room with no treatment. My best system sounds better in both rooms than the old system I had.

@mark200mph

“My ears. Have fun with it all and the experience”

I would agree most people would leave this out of the discussion. And yes if your hearing is deficient, you may not know it without a hearing test and you can do something about it by getting hearing aids. Also it was mentioned that the recording is something you don’t have control over. I would disagree since many individual albums have different pressings and some have been remastered. Therefore one may able to get a better recording. As far as CD or streaming, yes there are versions that are better recordings than others and many are better resolution as well.

I generally agree with the OP .My mood is tied with the recording quality.