Which component has the most importance?


I have been on a quest redoing my system to a high effecient SET Integrated Amp affair with 2 way diy speakers of 95 DB Effeciency to run my Pentode amp in 1.8 watts at Triode Mode Operation. The amp is a Decware 84C
with the speakers being Parker 95 Signatures which put out a 95 DB Effeciency with response 40hz to 40khz.My front end for now is a Toshiba 2950 DVD Player soon to be upgraded to a Tube cd player in the near future.
So here I am thinking I must improve the sound of my front end immediately; of course that is what LINN always taught us and over my years since the 80's of listening that is what I always thought until I came onto a tweek that has so profoundly changed all my prioities around on its ear.
I have been swapping out cables,tubes,creating DIY IC's,
diy power cords,replacing internal hookup wire and then I opened up the speaker and took a look inside and thats when I started down this road of tweeking even more.I had noticed the speaker had 2 Deflex panels installed directly in the back cabinet wall right behind the drivers, and the drivers had small guage solid core hook up wire on each of them with just one cap on the ribbon tweeter. Well the first tweek on my list was to replace the internal wire with cyro treated wire single core I had with a small green enamel on them. I wraped these with some heat shrink tubing to protect them from other wires in the scheme and the sound of the speakers became much more open and organic.
Every note took on additional richness and clarity of sound. The soundstage really opened up in all directions.
Tweek #2. I removed all the internal stuffing which consisted almost the bottom 2 feet of the short tall 39 inch speakers.
Why? Well the people at Deflex state to do this and specifically say to cover 80% of the internal cabinet with Deflex. So far I have added an additional 18 inches by 10 inches of Deflex into the speaker and the sound quality jump has been off the charts.THIS HAS BEEN THE MOST SIGNIFICANT UPGRADE I HAVE EVER DONE PERIOD.
I am now in the process of installing Deflex throughout
the entire internal speaker cabinet except for the last bottom 7 inches or so.
The Deflex has improved the speakers and my system in every parameter, Soundstaging, speed, timming, dynamics,timbre,focus and accuracy. I find it such a huge improvement that I am not rushing out to get amy new cd player yet.
I'm thinking now that maybe Wilson Audio has been right all this time stating the importance of the Speaker interface in a system. I am such a happy camper now with my system that I have literally been losing some sleep lately which is okay since I'm retired and have nothing to do but tweek all day. LOL.
wELL MY CONCLUSIONS FROM ALL OF THIS?
I think now that the most critical component in the system is the speaker interface first and then the preamp or integrated in my case followed by the front end.
Atlest based on my observation that is what has worked for me. Well my last tweek on my speakers will be to replace the one and only cap in the non crossover speaker the 2 mfd
100 Volt Havoland with a Dueland Cooper or a V-cap. Luckily I only need to replace one in each speaker. This little tweek will cost almost $650.00 for the 2 caps which is more then what I paid for the pair of the speakers.
Well will it be worth the investment?
I am told by the speaker designer that the Dueland is someting very special indeed.
So we shall see.
Happy Listening
76doublebass
128x12876doublebass
I wasn't talking about you either. See what I mean ???

I'm talking about basics. You obviously missed that.

And I'm talking about the designers. They make no apologies.

My vote goes person first, everything else second.
I would say that the 2 most important parts of audio are both ends, where mechanics meet electronics, source (cd player, TT what have you) and of course speakers. Yes the preamp is vital but mainly an impedance check would do, if you can use a passive preamp better...

Now about the caps, I have tried a bunch of caps but I havent gone for the Duelund, I do think they are terribly expensive and it does sound funny to spend more on caps than on drivers, but when you have a 3k cable....

Some of my favorite caps are Jantzen Silver, Mundorf silver oil and Vcap oimp (the values that I use does not allow for teflon)... You would do fine with any of them really and maybe save a little, or live dangerously and get the Duelund, I am sure they will be wonderfull.

Mainly with caps these quality you end up with the flavor you like best...
Johnk, I have honestly have no opinion of your response; it was not a
consideration in my reply. This is just my general experience. Sorry for the
misunderstanding.
Speakers are important but so is the source and amplification. There is no way speakers can reproduce content if the source can't first extract it from the software and present error/distortion free it to the rest of the system.

It's all about systems, not components.
I don't see anything in my posts suggesting products or even a mention of my company but if Ohala and Karo feel this is a good upgrade why not post saying so. I just offered experience you guys offered nothing. So folks who design loudspeakers shouldn't answer? Maybe DIY types don't need help anymore. I will refrain from helping any into DIY? And will refer them to you 2.
That's pretty funny Ohlala. Always seems like all dealers in the responses. This place is loaded w/ dealers. That's the problem.

Same thing in the "real world". You talk to someone in the industry ..... most of them do only one thing, and then blackball someone who does something else. Maybe not directly , but they do it. It's very childish.

BTW .... we're not talking about live music, we're talking about sound reproduction. If you put an amp in a different room, it doesn't gain magic powers. At the same time, if you take 2 well-matched components .... connect them with outstanding cables .... put them on something solid .... and keep the power lines away from the data lines .... you might start talking about something.

They like to call it synergy. I call it common sense.
It's the fleshy thing placed in front of the speakers, covered in fabric (that part is optional, but strongly encouraged), placed on a chair. Specifically the complex electro-chemical arrangement encased in a solid round-like enclosure, with openings to the front and the sides (I use the side openings when I listen to music).
So you use a $650 cap set on a $89 ea fountek? Didnt you say caps cost more that you paid for DIY kit? Still crazy but thats audiophiles;) FYI founteks 95db at 2.83v 1 M or 92db 1 watt 1 meter. Your loudspeakers 92db 1 watt 1 meter keep this in mind some rate drivers at 2.83V others 1 watt 1 M. I would use a M dorf on the cheap fountek or buy a better tweeter pair with the $650.
Johnk : The speaker has no crossover parts at all
just 1 capacitor soldered to the tweeters positive post
and the other leg of the cap to the speaker jack THATS IT NOTHING ELSE. I am not just rolling dice with this. I spoke to the designer of the speaker and he stated specifically that the Dueland cap would be a significant upgrade for the speaker,But he did not put it in the assembled speakers so as to keep the price down to a level
that others could afford. I also was checking out a web site shootout of the 25 best caps and they test them monthly and found that the Dueland Cast Cooper was by far the best for speaker crossovers from there latest findings as of FEB.09. i HAVE HEARD FROM MANY SOURCES AND POSTS ABOUT HOW GREAT Chris's Teflon V-cap is, and I would have no problem even batting and I getting the V-CAP,but I would like to hear more independent studies on the Dueland
before possibly getting this particular cap.
If you want to get the most sound for your money pay more attention to posters like Johnk and less to posters like Stehno
Ditto X3—The Room. Think about it. Imagine hearing the Philadelphia Orchestra playing “Rite of Spring” at your local high school gymnasium and then at the Concertgebouw.

8^(
Your sending $650 on caps you best have a quality driver for if your caps cost more than the transducers your crazy to do so. Best to upgrade drivers a cap can not make a average driver sound as good as a quality one and for $650 You can almost purchase fostex fe138esr with alnico mag advance basket cone etc. I see so many on this site spending $1000 on caps for cheap or vintage drivers not of quality. Sure if you replace a cheap cap with a good one sound can improve if caps in networks in critical position. Most dont understand that sometimes only a few of the crossover parts need to be hi-quality. So one finds a cap change changes sound so they go nuts. Ask madisound this is popular today folks upgrading crossovers with no understanding on how they work or why designer used such parts. Changing out networks in my designs would only decrease performance for all is designed as a whole. And if you had to deflex the whole cab your cabs resonate and not built to a hi-standard. If built proper only deflex needed is behind drivers like a mid or fullrange deflex makes 1 for sub base use. Thats a costly upgrade in itself unless loudspeakers small than deflex away. And in some of my loudspeakers I use wool acusta stuff deflex etc if you pulled out fill and deflexed all of cab, sound would be the worse for it. So in your case maybe total deflex and removing fill worked but in many loudspeakers it wouldn't. If designer did work proper no upgrades by owner could improve it. If you cheap out on loudspeaker then well all affordable kit is built down to a price point and maybe they cheaped out. So a average person could improve. But in many designs only designer or a expert could improve. Do any of you test before and after change? Or do you just say hey I change out a cap for 1 that costs as much as a med TV and sound improved. How do you know the change really improved anything? Since no base result, no testing just a shot in the dark. But I know if it costs alot it had to make sound better. Or 1 would think they where foolish and noone like to think that about a purchase or DIY effort.Maybe you might think this post rude but just trying to help you out.
Actually, the racking system is the most significant component, then proper line conditioning.

-IMO
Thank you for all your comments. It seems that each person has a unique system in his or her listening room which is one of senergy matching. I suppose u really need to trust your own ears to do the tweeking and work out any compromises along the way, But so far it has been a fun ride for me exploring new gems of sound in my quest on a modest budget for a hint At The Real Thing.
76doublebass
Happy Listening
you look at equipment while listening ....are you serious? just kidding....we all do that..ofcourse,,,eye candy is hard to beat.....
The single most important step is to get speakers that work well in YOUR room. The size of YOUR room and where you can reasonably place those speakers in YOUR room dictate what speakers will work for you. Come up with a short list then try to listen to as many as you can. Once you've made your speaker choice do the same for the amp. Pick the amp that works best with YOUR speakers.
Don't forget cosmetics, after all you do sit and stare at them everytime you listen to music. For example planar speakers can work very well in small rooms because of their radiation pattern but can be overbearing physically
They all have to work well together.

Getting speakers to fit the room correctly is the first thing to assure, then build and tweak from there.

Sometimes, the best tweaks cost little or nothing to implement.
i think they all are the most important. the front end has always to me means ,this is what you hear, linn,i understand, but if the cables, equpment,speakers can't come across with the front end ,then forget it....i know there is no formula, but here is mine,,,,, front end 100% cables 1/2 the money of the front end, including connects rca,power,speaker, then 100% for int.amp, as the front end....100% speakers....so in saying that.....1,000 cd,,,1,000 int.or pre power, 1,0000 speakrs, 1500 cables with conditioner...i would say i am still around this formula and it seems to work for me, as of today, i have listen to well respected 3,000 player, all kinds of dac out, preout, and compared it to my 750 player and ofcourse it is more refined, but not 2300 worth....to me the biggest and best money in the last five years i have spent is making sure i try to match, i now own the most inexpensive system i have ever owned and to me, i know the refinement is there, but i can buy alot of music and enjoy music and not equipment and no on loves equipment more than me.....
Your DAC the faster and more complete you can transfer
the digial signial to analog the better