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

I recently viewed a You Tube video featuring Paul McGowan from PS Audio discussing the most important component when building a new system. I love Paul's video's and feel they bring a personalized touch to the discussions of all things audio. In the video mentioned Paul took a generalized approach in stating the speakers were the most important component to consider and that the relevant importance of each successive component rested in the chain down stream of the speakers. I am writing this to humbly disagree. I am in the mist of building a new system from scratch over the past 9 months. It has been my experience that if proper care is taken to the quality of the amp. pre-amp. and cables (with an emphasis on cables) you can get away with relatively inexpensive speakers that sound better than they have a right to. This is my own opinion based on recent experiences.
scottya118
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
Hmm...

No instruments, no voice, no recordings, no power generation, no electricity, no cables, no source, no..., no..., ....well...common sense...hmm....perhaps not so obvious....

I reiterate- no speakers, no music.  Seems obvious but hey this is an "audiophile" forum, hence "common sense" is often not all that common.

nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,581 posts
 
Speakers can only play what is fed to them, therefore they are not the limiting factor. You can have a fully capable speaker and not come close to realizing great sound if something upstream is messing up.

Same goes for the source. It can deliver everything you need only to be held back and made to sound bad by what's downstream of it.

That would leave the amp and the cables. Since most amps nowadays can do journeyman duty of such a high order as to have many sound similar, that would leave cables to consider.

To me, it seems that most speaker cables are just variations on a common theme with hardly any make doing real R & D in thinking outside the box. I think I've found a make of speaker cables and they've solved the riddle of the Sphinx, as far as I can tell.

All the best,
Nonoise

scottscottsdale
103 posts
 
Speakers are most important.  Without good speakers you cannot hear any difference 
ps
744 posts
 
@david_ten

OP asked:
"What is the most important component to consider while building a new system?" Component. Singular.

He did not ask "What ARE the most important COMPONENTS to consider while building a new system?"

Hmmm? Hmmm indeed. I’m outta here. Even a little "chicken or the egg" is much more than I care to ponder. :)
twoch
429 posts
 
 I would go with the most
expensive Component DAC
you can afford.   Also you would have 3 DAC,S laying around the house  thinking Audiogon is sure going to hammer me when i sell them 
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