Amp more important than speakers?


The common wisdom seems to be the opposite (at least from speaker makers), but I have tried the many speakers that have come thru my house on lesser amps or my midfi A/V receiver and something was always very wrong, and things often sounded worse than cheap speakers.
On the other hand, I have tried many humble speakers on my my really good amps (& source) and heard really fine results.

Recently I tried my Harbeth SHL5s (& previously my Aerial 10Ts, Piega P10s, and others) on the receiver or even my Onkyo A9555 (which is nice with my 1985 Ohm Walsh 4s, which I consider mid-fi), and the 3 high end speakers sounded boomy, bland, opaque.

But when I tried even really cheap speakers on my main setup (Edge NL12.1 w/tube preamp) I got very nice results
(old Celestion SL6s, little Jensen midfi speakers).

So I don't think it's a waste of resources to get great amplification and sources even for more humble speakers.
My Harbeth SHL5s *really* benefit from amps & sources that are far more expensive than the Harbeths.

Once I had Aerial 10Ts that sounded like new speakers with vocals to die for when I drove them with a Pass X350 to replace an Aragon 8008.

Oh well, thanks for reading my rambling thoughts here...

So I think I would avoid pairing good speakers with lesser amps,
rgs92
As many have already stated all components in an audio system matter. But specifically regarding power amp vs speaker, I `d rather have a great amp upstream of a good speaker than a great speaker downstream from a good amp. The speaker can`t improve the signal passed to it. The better the speaker, the more it exposes what preceeds it, i.e. garbage in-garbage out.
>>06-27-11: Tmsorosk
Without the right amp your system will never reach it's potential<<

Without speakers that satisfy a listener, the right amp is a moot point.
Audiiofeil,

"Without speakers that satisfy a listener, the right amp is a moot point."
You said in one sentence what I took several paragraphs to write.

Good listening,
Larry
Speakers and amps are not a chicken and egg thing. They have to work together.

http://www.atma-sphere.com/papers/paradigm_paper2.html

If the two do not work together no amount of cash will fix it.