And the biggest influence on sound quality is...

None of the gear changes have had that much impact on sound quality.

Seriously?  What gear changes have you experimented with so far?  I have heard profound changes with different pieces of gear.  

Besides quality of the recording , I feel the quality ofthe front end is a bit more important then the Loudspeakers , for once the audio signal is converted good or bad it cannot be improved downstream, you only get one chance to define its sound character. I have been experimenting with some pretty good dacs.

that have. Changed the norm in what to expect and  just under $9 k retail ,that can 

stay with dacs that are 50% more expensive ,hint from Europe.

I see the point and can't disagree.  Once a system has good, revealing speakers, the impact of changing the front end can really change the listeners experience.  And I forgot about the recording.  Even on a mid-fi system, a poor recording or poor engineering of a recording can annihilate the music.  And the better the audio equipment, the worse that thing will sound for sure.  I guess if someone has a lousy recording of music they really like they could scout around for an old Radio Shack stereo.

Ossicle2brain +10

I have a slightly different take.  First, the best enhancement to SQ is a bong hit of some good hybrid.  Never fails!  But at this stage, having heard my classic rock a million times, I find myself listening to a lot of bootlegs, especially Led Zeppelin, my favorite rock group.  The boots vary in quality from soundboard, near commercial quality, to not so good audience tapes from the '70's.  I find that my current system makes everything sound better, i.e., well-recorded music sounds fantastic and poorly recorded music still sounds good although the difference in SQ is obvious.  So I think that some systems are so resolving that unless something is well-recorded, it sounds like crap.  I prefer a system that is smoother . . . not that detail is lost, but sounds smoother.  My ARC/Pass combo with Wilson Sabrina X speakers, an MSB DAC and a loom of Shunyata Sigma cables and Shunyata Everest, hit that sweet spot!