Where’s My Weakest Link?

Anybody who recommends changing the wiring in the speakers before upgrading a low cost preamp that is generations old is giving advice that is not logical. Many advances in technology since Carver's preamp.

Anybody?

I'll agree that adding a dedicated line should be one of the first upgrades to a system.

Seriously??!

Sorry, but the snark isn't nearly so effective when used on someone who actually knows what he's talking about. Its my biggest complaint with this site. Not the dozen or so who clog it up with pages of indecipherable blather. Not the ones who don't have a clue. The ones who pretend to know and try and pass themselves off as experienced when in fact they really have only the slightest tiniest bit more than a clue. If that.

The fact is its not "anybody" making those recommendations. Its somebody with actual experience having tried and compared everything mentioned. Which is why I - not anybody, me- am NOT recommending a dedicated line. Easily the worst of all the suggestions made so far!

Unlike "anybody" I have actual experience with all these things. The ancient amp. The speaker cables. The dedicated line. I have done all these things. Actually done. Not read about. Not thought about. DONE!

Compared. Three different dedicated lines. More wires and mods than there is time to list. Its really sad to see anybody who hasn't done these things pretend to know more than somebody who has. Worse than sad. Pathetic.

I thought maybe the weakest link was the wire bringing AC power to the room. So I went under the house and pasted all the 30 feet or so I was able to get at. It was indeed impressive. Then I opened my speakers and pasted the few feet from the binding posts to the drivers. The improvement was so much more I could hardly believe it. 

Clearly the internal speaker wire was a weaker link than the power wire. It was just impossible to know until it was tried and compared. 

Both improvements together cost less than $300. There is absolutely no component on the market new or used for less than ten times that amount that would provide this much improvement. Yet there are guys here who "think" that "probably" the stuff the OP has is "aging" and so they guess it should be the first to go.

By that logic I would have to throw out the speakers I just heard sound so wonderful. They are after all 20 years old and so the caps are "aging" and must be the weak link. 

This would all be hilarious were it not for the fact the OP might actually rely on some of this truly awful "logic".

I obviously have interconnects but they are generic, couldn't even give you a brand. Monster speaker wire. And lets consider the rest “generic” due to a lack of knowledge. Do you find that changing one of these items can improve a system more than improving what I listed?

Yes. Totally. Without a doubt. 

The three most satisfying systems I ever heard (besides my own current one) https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 were all budget systems done for $1200 to $2500. The budget on each of those included as much for wire as for speakers. Nobody gets it because nobody does it but I have- you put equal parts of money into each part of the system because every single part of the system matters just as much as every other part. So for that one simple misapprehension they run around changing the components everyone else is telling them matters, never getting there. Because they miss out on what really matters, which is everything.

The importance of wire was proven to me years ago. First with a dealer who I was friends with and let me home audition all kinds of stuff I could never afford, and try out even more stuff at his place. One time I come over and he plays some music on what looked like the same system as last time. Only now it sounds insanely better. WTF? He changed the speaker cables, interconnects, power cords, and conditioner. He then tells me these things, basically all just wire, cost TWICE as much as the speakers, amp and source- together!

So when I put those budget systems together I allocate equal amounts for wire as speakers, amp, and source. Knowing what I have learned since I now also allocate equal amounts for what I call tweaks and accessories. So a $5k system is $1k each for speakers, amp, source, wire, tweaks.

This right here puts most audiophools into a seizure. Yet it is conservative. Could easily put twice into wire. Its been demonstrated. Proven. Not conjecture. Fact. Not theory. 

**This is not meant to be taken literally! You cannot simply throw money at the problem. It is assumed you will take the time to do the research and audition and select the best performance value for the money.**

But I don't mean to focus on wire. Look at my first post. Look up everything on the list. TC, HFT, ECT, etc. Only putting so much emphasis on wire because you said Monster, which is basically zip cord and totally the weak link in your system, which is what you asked to know.

There is always a weakest link. The problem is the links are molecules, and run from the wire on the other side of the drop line ahead of the breaker panel to the air on the other side of the speaker cone, to the walls that contain the air and even beyond that. That’s a lot of links!

That’s it? That’s your "system"? 

What speaker cable, interconnects, power cords are you using?
What fuses, outlets, power conditioner?
What acoustics? Do you have any HFT? ECT? TC? Cones? Rack? Shelf???