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
Stickman451 makes a good case for "speaker first" and Taters makes an equally compelling case for"amp first" approach. Come on guys either way can lead to satisfaction. What I don`t get are the insults toward those who don`t agree with the speaker first philosophy, we`re all grownups are`nt we?
My comments on going speakers first really have nothing to do with the relative cost of components; spend as much as you like and can afford!

Find a speaker that you really like and buy it. Then if you want to spend ten times as much (or more) on the front-end do that too. If you have made a good speaker choice then your efforts and $$$ on the front- end will reward you!
From my previous post on this particular forum. In my many many years at this, I have not experienced someone wanting to buy an amp, and then say, ok now, let me find speakers to match it. As a sales person and consultant during many of those years, I always directed customers to speakers first, based on characteristics they were looking for, and, the room they will be in. At that point, help them with an amp to drive them properly, for spl, impedence, tone, etc. During the upgrade process, this can be reversed. This happened to me when I transitioned to my 104 db speakers and found a smaller amp than what I was using. The larger amp did not have the detail, musicallity or even the "prat" that the smaller amp had. But again, it shows, for me anyway, speakers first. However, this in no way suggests that the amp is less important. I remember meeting Ivor T from Linn many many years ago, as he started with the source and worked his way from there. This too is a great approach, and in some ways made sense. My Linn LP12 set up through a japanese receiver and bookshelf speakers sounded more "real" than a cheap turntable through more expensive electronics and higher end loudspeakers. Ultimately, it is all a means to an end, just how to get there.
In my experience a moderately decent speaker can benefit from almost endless upgrades upstream. It surprises me how far you can go. A poor front end can only be exposed by great speakers. As long as the speakers are at an acceptable level and suit the room, spend heavily on the amp.