2. best-of
  3. 143132-19874

Which area of components to spend the most $ on? Boy I was wrong all my life!

I have been an audio junkie for about 25 years. All those years, I have read plenty of discussion posts and recommendations where to spend the most money on. The majority, even the experts recommend to spend the most money on speakers. Up to as high as 60% of the total budget.Example: CEO of PS Audio-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYwL7vPkPhg
I believed this all my life. Today, my eyes are opened. My total budget is about $15K.Before today, my system was:Speakers-Revel F36 Concerta 2 (For the money, this is the best speakers I’ve heard. I like it more than my previous Dynaudio Contour 30)Integrated Amp-Marantz PM-10 (Class D, balanced, 400wpc at 4ohms)CD Player-Oppo UDP 205 & Marantz CD 6005 (Some of the best in class)Line conditioner-Furman Elite PFi 15Cables-Kimber 8TC Speaker Cables (Sorry, not a cable nut. I’d rather spend money elsewhere)
I upgraded my front end CD player to... Marantz SA-11S3. I was BLOWN away! This is the greatest upgrade I have ever heard in my life. For 25 years, I was taught to spend the most in speakers. Sorry! It’s the FRONT END! The best source you can afford. The purity transcends down the river. I am blown away by the sheer improvement in detail, clarity, depth, the air around the instruments.
My philosophy has changed.
skimrn
tlong1958
87 posts
 
You should spend most of your money on $600 magic mats and $150 vials of magic graphene goo to gunk up everything electrical in your house. That’s the ticket, yeah.
tlong1958
87 posts
 
Waiting to be banned from these forums now
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
14,147 posts
 
millercarbon
“Forces you think about the system as a whole.”

>>>>>Also forces you to think about the system as a black hole. It also forces you to think of the system as a big rabbit hole. 
almarg's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
almarg
8,673 posts
 
While there are exceptions of course, for a given level of quality there will tend to be at least a loose correlation between the cost of a speaker on the one hand, and the deep bass extension and the maximum volume it can provide with reasonably low distortion, on the other hand. Obviously different listeners will have different preferences and requirements in those regards.

Also, while it is true that the downstream components cannot correct for the shortcomings of the source, it is also true that the source cannot correct for the shortcomings of the downstream components. And a philosophy that the source is the most important part of a system as a result of being first in the chain, and therefore warrants the greatest investment, ignores both the degree to which different parts of the chain may adversely affect the sound (as the saying goes, "a chain is as strong as its weakest link"), and the degree to which the cost and sonic performance provided by the various parts of a system may (or may not be) correlated.

Also, the efficiency of whatever speaker is chosen will of course affect how much power the amplifier must be capable of providing. And for a given level of amplifier quality, and a given amplifier topology, more watts will often mean more $.

Those are among the reasons why IMO simplistic formulas for how system cost should be allocated among its various parts are pretty much worthless. It depends on the specific components that are being considered, and on the preferences and requirements of the specific listener.

Regards,
-- Al

Ag insider logo xs@2x
david_ten
2,509 posts
 
+++1 @almarg   Should be a sticky. 
More to discover