Not as many B & M stores to hang around listening to different types and prices of speakers , amps etc.. as when I started out, actually there is only 1 left within about an hour and half drive from where I live now so it’s a little harder to build relationships and get good advice not to mention good deals on returns, trade ins and demos from a dealer. At amy rate I always thought the speaker is where most effort and money should be focused but at the moment I am doing a home trial of a set of speakers that cost less than my integrated amp so what do I know? Staying in the parameters I would still put speaker at about 55%( he or she can figure room treatments out later maybe do some home made things) , amplification either separate or integrated close 44% and the remaining 1% on cables. But the more I read the better I understand I’m not an audiophile just someone who likes to listen to music on the best I can afford which is pretty modest from what I can gather.
Relative component value to overall SQ.
There is a lot of discussion about various things in the hi-fi audio component chain and how they affect SQ and as a beginner it would be interesting to see how folks rate the relative value of these items.
This is not necessarily meant to be a hierarchy. What I would like to see is a percentage value for each item in the chain. Total must be 100%.
I realize this is an artificial construct but I think for newbies building a system it would help them know where to start and where to put initial emphasis.
For simplicity I am leaving out the signal source. Let’s assume that the CDP, DAC, streamer, server or TT are delivering an optimal signal of an optimal recording to the system.
I included room optimization since that is also likely critical.
The components are as follows; assign a percentage to each. Total must be 100 :
Speakers
Speaker cables
Amp
Amp power cord
Interconnect cables
Pre-Amp
Pre-amp power cord
Interconnect cables (to source)
Room optimization
This is not necessarily meant to be a hierarchy. What I would like to see is a percentage value for each item in the chain. Total must be 100%.
I realize this is an artificial construct but I think for newbies building a system it would help them know where to start and where to put initial emphasis.
For simplicity I am leaving out the signal source. Let’s assume that the CDP, DAC, streamer, server or TT are delivering an optimal signal of an optimal recording to the system.
I included room optimization since that is also likely critical.
The components are as follows; assign a percentage to each. Total must be 100 :
Speakers
Speaker cables
Amp
Amp power cord
Interconnect cables
Pre-Amp
Pre-amp power cord
Interconnect cables (to source)
Room optimization