Amp vs preamp question

Matching amp to speakers and speakers to room is most important to get right first. Cost to accomplish this is secondary. Larger rooms will generally cost more to get right.

Once you have this planned out, a pre-amp to match can be determined. You need to consider what kind and how many input sources the pre-amp must handle.

Tell us something about the speakers and room you are working with first and then it should be possible to offer some useful suggestions.

Also, knowing you overall budget for both amp and pre would help.

I have the thiel cs 3.7
Room size 18X18

Thanks

Question:
Where should more money be placed, into the preamp or the amp?

Preamp. hands down. Period.

that is not to say the amp is of no consequence. Not at all. I've found out personally, that if a chain of priorities is in place, the sound begins with the source. So the source should be as good a one as a person can afford. Following that philosophy, the preamp/controler should be on par or better than the source. This should, and I do mean should, keep the signal intefgrity on a very high level.

An amplifier that receives a fine signal will sound better than one which does not. To assist the amp in doing it's job, the front end needs to be as good as one can get and a little more... well, that's my approach anyhow.

the speakers and amp combo are about a matter all their own... and usually the speakers will narrow the field of amps best suited to them by their eff and impedance curves.

I've never heard great speakers sound great with the stuff in front of them being just so so. On the other hand, I've heard great sounds coming out of moderately priced speakers with great front ends.

It's all about the signal and keeping it as pure as is possible... as it gets magnified along the way.