Not sure whose arguments Muralman is referring to as "absurd", but I'll respond: The original question actually does ask the question, which single component is most important in a 2-channel system. I stand by my responses; Yes, I'd agree with you that the speaker selection has the greatest potential to radically alter the sound of a system, but without a good source you will just have garbage wrapped in fancy wrapping paper...it still stinks! This is why I believe that, objectively, the source is the most important. Subjectively, well, I guess that is, by definition entirely up to the individual and their expectations, priorities and tastes. I can build a system to suit virtually any preferences around a great source component, but I cannot do the same with a specific great speaker. In the case of the latter I'd have to tailor the rest of the components specifically to suit that speaker (in many, but not all cases). A five-figure set of world-class horns are not necessarily going to sound great with whatever I put them with, and I will not be able to reconfigure my system with much latitude around those speakers. Spend the same five figures on a world-class source and you will have tremendous latitude with the other components you pair it off with. In a way, I'm agreeing with the "speaker" camp actually in that the choice of speakers will go furthest in determining the overall sound of the system, and perhaps will dictate the rest of the components. But I still would have to say that without a good source, all else falls to pieces, and this is why I stand by my original position that the source is most important. I don't know that the "weakest link" argument is entirely true in this case. I don't see it that way in this case. I think it's more like that Belafonte song: "House built on a weak foundation, it won't stand, oh no, oh no...." The source is the foundation that a system is built on...like the house, it doesn't matter how strong the components above it are, if the foundation is week it all comes tumbling down.
