Amp vs preamp question

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.

I must say if I had to decide between the two.,I would say that the Pre-amp has much more to do with altering ( good or bad ) the sound of your system....

Each piece contributes to the sound.

The engineering principle of bottle necking comes into play when "tuning" your system. Basically, this means you make sure the part furthest downstream is not "bottle necking" or limiting performance. Once this part is tuned, then move to the next piece upstream.

Unfortunately, if you do not make sure the amp can drive the speaks properly in you listening environment first, you will have a bottleneck downstream and not be able to get the most out of your expensive upstream electronics no matter how much money you throw into them.

I agree with most of the points above. I have found on an absolute basis the preamp has a larger effect on the overall sound of a system than an amp (this is obviously a generalization).

That said, Mapman's right in that if your amp won't drive your speakers properly the rest really doesn't matter. And since most Thiel speakers are demanding and quite picky when it comes to amps it's probably particularly important in your case to get the amp right first, then find a preamp that synergizes well with your sound preferences and the amp itself. I'd follow that strategy and let the costs fall where they may.

Best of luck.

I have to agree with Mapman here. Especially with Thiel's. Thiel's are more demanding of appropriate, quality amplification than most speakers. BTW, I've been using Thiels for 20 years.