I'm afraid that the question assumes too many things for an answer to be very helpful. I have a high percentage allocated to my preamp, but thats to some real degree because I have a large number of sources, so the primary chain condition is distorting. In real world systems, upgrading is often incremental, not all at once, so the oldest link is likely to be a lowball share. Preferences for speaker types and room size make different demands on amplification, and therefore affect the allocation (if I lived in an NYC studio apartment, I might well spend under 2k on a really good headphone amp and set of phones, which would leave a lot for the source).
Proportional Allocation to Total System
Dear fellow audiophile/music lover, We all know the fact that the audio system is serial chain and the rule of the game is simple. Minimize the loss and unwelcome addition. I believe your contribution here will help other audiophile/music lover. Could you divide your total system (primary chain only) by following categories and state the percentage of money allocation? 1) Total MSRP of your system 2) Source 3) Pre-amp 4) Power-amp 5) Inter connect 6) Speaker cable 7) Speakers 8) Others. Would you also state which link is most important and why? My Current system: 1) $9200 2) 10.87% 3) 16.3% 4) 16.3% 5) 4.35% 6) 8.7% 7) 32.61% 8) 10.87% My own observations: 1) Equal amount on source and others. 2) Equal amount on amplification and speakers. I think speaker cables are subject to most loss if you don’t allocate sufficient amount. I’ve tested single and double run of Kimber 8TC on ten different systems and always able to hear big difference.