Upgrade bug has hit, interested in Pass Labs Amps

the weak link is the recording. who wouldn't trade an expensive stereo system for analog master tapes, a decent tape deck and a modest stereo system ?

if it is poorly recorded , a speaker will not help.

Ok Mttennis, as you've posted the same answer twice in this thread you must be looking for a response. I'll bite.
The original poster is not looking for any advice concerning the quality of the recordings he is listening to so your idea is of no relevance.
But to go further, how many "analog master tapes" of any recorded event are produced for public consumption? I have no idea how many are made but suspect there aren't enough for each Agon member to own one. So what's the point?
I won't argue whether or not your assertion is true as I haven't listened to a master tape on a "mediocre" or "modest" stereo system.

doesn't mrtennis have it right? Could be wrong but I was taught that in terms of the heirarchy it goes source, room (or room acoustics), and then speakers. The reason there is so much fixation on speakers is that it is the easiest to control....

Why do people have a need to frame the importance of individual pieces of audio equipment as a mutually exclusive argument? The fact is that in audio every piece is important, and to claim that getting one right is most important is useless. If your source sounds like shit, the sound you hear will be shit no matter what else you've got. If your speakers sound like shit, you'll hear -- you guessed it -- shit, no matter what you're using as a source, amp, etc. Who gives a crap what flavor the shit is?

One of the questions posed here was whether to upgrade the amp or speakers first. That's a question of strategy, not importance. I think it's easier to start with the speakers and then find an amp that is capable of driving them and producing the sound one is looking for. Others may prefer a different strategy and that's fine if it works for them. At the end of the day it doesn't change the fact that every link in the audio chain is vitally important. I would hope we at least can all agree on that.

Translation from a stored medium to an electrical and the electrical to acoustical are often the barriers hardest to over-come,at least in this hobby/pursuit.
Many have a vested interest in this pursuit and will viciously attack anyone who might disrupt them or take a portion of said meal.Dog eat dog.Thought we might have evolved past this ,but we may have a long way to go.