Room or Speaker what s more important?

I've got friends with mediocre systems, and decent rooms. But speaker placement in a given room is just as important as both issues mentioned. Separation is one topic which comes to mind. And if they need stands, by all means LIFT 'EM!

Example #1. Friend has a nice old H/K receiver and some garage sale Klipsch Hereseys ($50 score for him!). He has the speakers sitting on the floor, both in the corner of the room, side-by-side. This puts the horns at shin level. Not worthy. And you can imagine the lack of imaging, being side-by-side.

Example #2 (woman this time): She has a decent mid-fi HT rig. And she insists that the (tower) main speakers "look better" flanking either side of the stereo cabinet. Maybe so. But the center channel speaker is on top of the TV, to the right of the left and right speakers that are sandwiching the stereo cabinet. GGGgggrrrrrrhhhhhh!!!

Obviously you see the problems with both of these scenarios, and both have simple remedies. PLACEMENT WITHIN A GIVEN ROOM is the best place to start. Then consider changing rooms or speakers. Just my $0.02

Quality components in an optimized room will sound better than world-class components in a bad room.

SPEAKERS SILLY!

Jkphoto is brief and very much to the point, IMHO. But "the room" is ambiguous: does it include acoustic treatment or not? If the room "measures up" half-decently, in that its main resonant modes (its three main dimensions) aren't too close together, acoustic treatment can make the difference between great sound and really annoying and fatiguing sound. See F. Alton Everest's books, "Master Handbook of Acoustics" 4th edition and "Sound Studio Construction on a Budget", and I've heard Robert Harley's book is good on this too. If you can do any DIY, acoustic treatment is a LOT cheaper than a fancier pair of speakers, and does at least as much good. I have designs for Argent Room Lens clones and RPG-style diffusors, if you're interested in taking the DIY route.

Slow thinker that I am;I have finally been able to elaborate. I guess in my minds eye,I was thinking "system" and responding to "speakers". Ok, I guess my "Rad.- Shack" system is = to "metal room";as examples of what we're NOT talking about.Also,we're not talking about speakers placed with their fronts to the wall,or any other such nonsense.Deep and wide soundstage created by lesser components is not as satisfying as the "not-so-deep and wide" SOUND from quality components. ???Those of us relegated to L-shpped rooms are painfully aware of what we don't have...And what we do have.