I agree with those who say the room.
The two biggest factors (by very very far) are Room and Speakers.
Digital Sound and transistor electronics have made the differences between other components to be several orders of magnitude less important. (There is so much out there that is simply excellent - even modest cheap stuff)
This is why I am not ashamed to hook up a $300 CD player to literally "hundreds of times" more investment in speakers and room design/treatment. What would seem crazy to many people makes perfect sense to me in terms of "sound" value.
The two biggest factors (by very very far) are Room and Speakers.
Digital Sound and transistor electronics have made the differences between other components to be several orders of magnitude less important. (There is so much out there that is simply excellent - even modest cheap stuff)
This is why I am not ashamed to hook up a $300 CD player to literally "hundreds of times" more investment in speakers and room design/treatment. What would seem crazy to many people makes perfect sense to me in terms of "sound" value.