What is the most important component to consider while building a new system?

ps566 posts07-16-2021 8:46pmI reiterate- no speakers, no music.  Seems obvious but hey this is an "audiophile" forum, hence "common sense" is often not all that common.


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And 50 yrs later we are still asking this Q..

Let this thread be the final word on this matter.
Yet for some reason, amplifiers continue to facinate audiophiles interests..
Why???
Discussions on amplifiers bore me to death.
I like EL34/KT88/KT120's about equal, any PP amp under 50 watts is all thats needed. 
Pick your lab, they are all ~~~about~~~ equal in terms of sound.

The only thing   important when choosinga  amp is build quality/reputation. 
Thats it, and of course price. 
A $7k intergrated is not any much superior to a  $1500 intergrated in terms of sound.
Its what you can afford. 
Speakers, here is the problem. 
You can throw  tons of money intoa  speaker, and still get less than a  much lower price speaker that does not have the distortion issues a  speaker 10X's its price.
IOW 
a  $3k speaker can  out shoot a  $30k speaker, only due to The Distortion factor. 
My speaker of choice is  magnesium cone midwoofers, due to its extremely low  coloration/dampening  character. 
Any paper material I will not like as it sounds like speakers from the 1970's and all the issues of those early  cone materials. 

Check with your significant other as to what they will allow you to prioritize. Your nine months will turn into a lifetime.

If you are alone I would focus on pre, front end, amp, speakers, room treatments then cables and voodoos . 

lol. So the most important component isn't the DAC. It's the SAF.

Restraint....lest ones’ credit/debit card(s) meltdown to the Void....;)

SAF can refer to Sometimes A Flaw....in observation and obstruction by SAF/original version.....*g*

Hi scottya118...thanks for the topic,

As a senior contributor for 2 channel, so far, I can agree with several differing responses so far.  For many years, in a conventional multi-component, analog setup, a GREAT preamp and phono-stage was the heart and soul of a great system.  Now, in 2021, with variety of excellent source options, focus is on room-speakers-tuning devices.  Then... mating the best amplification affordable to the speakers, paying great attention to the load and characteristics of both.  Same holds true in pairing the source to the amp with the many choices now available, expertise being invaluable.

Once that's all locked-in, for my money, EXPERT DSP can now take everything to levels never before imagined.  Old thinking of the "purity" of getting from A to B to C, is simply that...old thinking.  My super experienced Tech and I have carefully measured the sweet-spot, then have consulted our way, over time taking these measurements forward with great success.  This is not a "problem fix" per se...it's more, "now, let's see how far we can take it."  Once again, please don't think parametric equalizer.  These are adjustments 1/100th of a db capability...a mastering engineer approach suited for YOUR room.  We use music with which we are both intimately familiar, and fine tune.  

I also have my musician 23 year old son as another pair of ears.  He doesn't use our verbiage, but he is honest with his findings and gets them across to me nicely.  A recent cable upgrade, he reported "more clarity and a larger soundstage."  That truly said it all.

Even my Tech and I disagree on some things.  He's at a point where he can use most any quality cabling and fine tune it to his flavors.  Mine is more the approach of using the best sounding wire I can reasonably afford, THEN taking things forward with DSP.  I'm adding this to point out that there may indeed be more than one "right" answer to many things in our hobby.  The fun is, finding your individual truth.  More Peace, Pin

The most important components in an ANALOG system in priority order, most important first:

- phono cartridge
- tonearm
- phono preamp
- preamp/power amp
- turntable
- speakers

Setting up your room and placing speakers will be the greatest part of starting from scratch. Choose the best speakers for your room, then amplifiers and cables to best match the speakers. Then look for preamp/processor, DAC, turntable, tonearm, cartridge, phono stage, etc., that will bring out the best in the media you choose to play.

Speakers usually. However, amps these days sound so different from one another that they’re becoming a more important component all the time. It used to be that if you weren’t building your system around your speakers you were going about it wrong. That’s not necessarily the case anymore. There are so many small shops building top notch amps for very competitive prices, amps have suddenly become almost as important as speakers in building a system. In some cases the amps are more important, especially if you're looking for a specific type of sound.

For analog systems, the turntable/tonearm/cartridge as a system. If you don’t get it off the record properly, there’s nothing you can do downstream that will fix it.

The wiring between your ears snd your brain? 

Audiofound: 

My amps (Futtermans) and my speakers (Altec 604Cs) sorta live for each other. I can’t say that the amp or the speaker are more important. 

1) Speakers. 
2) Active or Passive
Then start building

I would definitely say it is the speaker first, especially in these times when there are many streaming based digital sources (D/A converters) with very clean and low distortion sound available for a reasonable and modest sum.  Not like the old days when tuners, record players, cd players could sound very bad.

Speakers and or DAC

I would choose the speakers to fit with your music taste and your room size before anything else.

Everything involved impacts sound quality.

So what are we talking about here? 

Are we starting from scratch with a completely empty room and a fixed budget?

Most times, people already have equipment and are desiring to upgrade.  If you aren't happy with your speakers, then go down the speaker path (really difficult).  Then you find that your existing amp doesn't match well with the new speakers and you start down the amp path.  Now, that existing pre-amp isn't quite up to snuff with the new amp and guess what?  new pre-amp.

Digital source (CD transport, DAC, music server/streamer) another long upgrade path.

Don't even get me started on an analog system (turntable, arm, cartridge and phono stage). 

And then you have cables.

It is not an all in one path, it is a timely point by point, piece by piece upgrade path that takes a long time, a lot of money and hopefully some fun along the way.

So, in my opinion, the most important component would be where will this stuff be placed?  what does the room look like?  acoustics?  Also, how does the buyer like or appreciate music?  Background music only?  or will that person actually sit and listen and appreciate music and real instruments?  not a one size fits all scenario.

interesting subject, but not a simple answer.  What is the starting point, what is the budget?  where will the equipment be placed (room)?  all new equipment? or piece by piece upgrade?

enjoy

D A C is most important period !! 

MOLA MOLA TAMBAQUI DAC might just be the world's best DAC !

The speakers and the Amp chosen to drive them is The most important. Then the quality of the source components. Some say source component is most important, however, if fed into a poorly chosen Amp driving a mismatched pair of speakers, nothing will sound good, no matter the quality of the sourse....makes sense to me...