Listen to as many systems and speaker sets in various combinations as you can. You first must find a sound that pleases you. Without that, the rest is pointless. FWIW, I prefer to start with speakers. It is an approach that has served me well.
Using it, for me, in my environment, I put together a mostly Mc system that I would happily compare to systems costing far more. That said, I haven't found a pair of their speakers that work for me. A pair of Magico S3s with a C1000 and MC300 tube power really rocked my world during a demo in Buffalo, though. Then the $$$$$ reality kicked in. Sticking with my old monitors still produces highly enjoyable results. YMMV as others have mentioned.
Moral of the story is that you have to figure out what you like. Until you do that, all the rest is gas. This is an expensive hobby, and no one has a perfect answer. It's your money so please yourself.
Listen around and enjoy the process. Buy what you like. Forget the rest. Happy auditions!
Using it, for me, in my environment, I put together a mostly Mc system that I would happily compare to systems costing far more. That said, I haven't found a pair of their speakers that work for me. A pair of Magico S3s with a C1000 and MC300 tube power really rocked my world during a demo in Buffalo, though. Then the $$$$$ reality kicked in. Sticking with my old monitors still produces highly enjoyable results. YMMV as others have mentioned.
Moral of the story is that you have to figure out what you like. Until you do that, all the rest is gas. This is an expensive hobby, and no one has a perfect answer. It's your money so please yourself.
Listen around and enjoy the process. Buy what you like. Forget the rest. Happy auditions!