??? How Much Would You Spend ???

I feel the front end is as important as the Loudspeakers if not more

for if you don’t get all your information right from the start you cannot 

make it up downstream . Speakers by nature are normally more expensive 

30% for speakers  25% front end , getting the most for your money even slightly used .cables some are insanely priced but if you can afford them go for it 

20% for cables is reasonable. Plenty of good products out there.buy in the summer also good advise ,having owned a Audio store when it’s slowest ,or an item has been on line for some time get your best deals.

You know what they say:  "garbage in--garbage out."

The rule of thumb I have most often seen is 30% on speakers, 30% on amplification (integrated or separate pre and power amps), 30% on the front end (streamer/DAC or TT/TM/Cartridge) and 10% on cables.  I am an old audiophile and remember articles from Linn weighting the spend to the front end and reducing the spend for the speakers and amplification.  Years ago when the performance of digital equipment and lower cost analogue was not as good as today there was merit to that philosophy.  I did follow that philosophy with my first digital front end (Sonic Frontiers Processor 3/Iris Player). But digital front end equipment and lower cost analogue has improved so I would follow the 30/30/30/10 rules.  Of course this is all generalization and your decision should not be based on a ratio but on system synergy and your own preferences in sound quality.  

@immatthewj +1 ( emphasis added);

Two factors present themselves IMO in this thread where arbitrary and highly variable amp budgets are relegated to a distinct secondary notion.

(1) To push that it’s some kind of a 100-year old accepted rule to choose your expensive speakers in isolation always first; and then build around them where the electronics are relegated to a secondary highly variable afterthought or budget sensitive consequence:

(a) that notion is hyperbole at best, and,

(b) it is no assurance of a pathway to the Yellow Brick Road to Audio Oz, But a full system budget already planned upfront is.

”Price is what you pay. Value is what you get” - Warren Buffett

(2) Rather, a full high-end system components budget allocation philosophy is clear. And that also includes where affordable speakers with good amplification (and source) make more sense than an expensive speaker with a comparatively cheap amp and source.

A class d Hypex Ncore or Purifi stereo amp delivers top notch performance and can be had for under 2K. They will drive most any speakers to their max. So thats probably about it. Compact design for a small room is the icing on the cake.