Speaker priority: high or low???

Not that I wouldn't rather have a balanced system all at once, but if I were starting out building my 'dream' system (whether to a particular price bracket or not), I'd buy my dream speakers first and work back through the chain. That is the only way to be systematically sure of what you will end up with. Nrchy's point about lesser source components not retrieving as much of the signal, and Paulwp's point about them more greatly distorting it, are both true as far as they go. But while the signal is traveling 'forward' from source to speaker through the system, your ears are listening 'back' through the system from speakers to source. Imagine your system as several windowpanes placed one behind the other - without having a clear window closest to you to 'view' back through, you will not be able to see (hear) well enough to make informed decisions about choices pertaining to the first layers (sources).

I've posted about this opinion of mine before, but to briefly recap: The first component is the listening room; the speakers must be chosen appropriately to the room; the amp must be chosen appropriately to the speakers (speaker cables chosen here too); the preamp should simply be as transparent, accurate, and neutral as possible (same for interconnects here) while still maintaing the level of functionality you'll need based on your number and comlexity of sources and outboard devices; with the components that must always be engaged in the chain (room, speakers, amp, preamp) then taken care of, the source components can be individually chosen for each source path knowing with a good degree of confidence that (unlike if they were chosen first) what you prefer when choosing will be what you end up with at system completion (interconnects can be chosen to fine-tune here, as well as power cords). The one great exception to this 'rule' of mine is the AC power and conditioning, which it could make sense to go full out with from the beginning, but that's not imperative. If I had to allocate funds progressively and upgrade in the future, I'd first lay the foundation with the speakers I really wanted, then the best amplification for them I could afford and still get my sources together, and then incementally upgrade the sources knowing I had the 'clear window' through which to listen to my progress and make my choices.

P.S. - Swampwalker, it's funny you should mention ML and NHT; I just went up to Philly where my brother recently moved, to by a Levinson 380S preamp from an A'gon member (the quest continues, and yes, it's slightly 'out of sequence' according to my above rant, though not entirely, but that's another story...), and my bro (not an audiophile) had SuperOnes being powered by his mid-line Sherwood receiver from a Pioneer DVD/CD source. I was quite disappointed with the pretty awful sound he was getting, since I thought the NHT's were supposed to be fairly decent (although he was apparently unconcerned, maybe even happy, it truly stank - I did what little I could tweaking his tone controls). I had fantasies of taking his speakers back down to my place and inserting them in my system to pass judgement, or of bringing up some of my idle replaced gear and wires to sub out with in his system and see what I could do. But I'm going to show valor through discretion and restraint, and leave the poor kid alone...

Twl, I am with you. Speakers are definitely NOT the most important thing in the audio chain. Neither are they the least important thing.

As I posted way back when, I agree completely with Zaikesman. I might take it one step further and put more emphisis on the room. I do hope people have read this thread from the begining.

My two cents worth and I'm new at this.

I got the bug a couple years ago and bought a pair of ML Aerius i's and powered them with a decent 10 year old Denon integrated amp. Serious upgrade for me but I knew the Denon wasn't doing justice to the ML's.

Here comes the Anthem AVM2/MCA5 and the difference is night and day. So for me, my first three windows front to back are clean. And the tuner in the AVM2 is close to CD quality sound.

However I believe that the the pre and the amp are interchangable on the priority list. They have to work together. There may an amp OR a pre that would dial me in. I give them equal value in the chain. And the source comes last.

Bottom line from this newbie is that the room is number one by far (my room won't load bass) and then move backwards from the speakers to the source.

Yes Unsound, the room. I wouldn't have gone the way I did if I hadn't realized I have a great room. I forget that isn't a given understanding.

Good point Unsound. If I decided to drop a really large amount, say $100K, on a new system from scratch, I'd be seriously considering allocating the first big chunk to comprehensive room treatment. In fact, it wouldn't be at all crazy to my mind to take $85K of that $100K and allocate it to new construction of a purpose-built, acoustically designed and treated dedicated listening room, and then put a $15K system in it with the remainder. (Not that I have any immediate plans to put my money where my mouth is...I'm just messing around with gear waiting for the day when I'm living in a place I intend to stay, but I'll never do more than spot treatment on a trial and error basis...no $100K system 'investments' for me... :-)

After I buy my new speakers I am looking at adding on to our house. A listening room is one of the things I plan to work on, of course the pretext is to gain a better master bedroom suite upstairs. Without that and a little kitchen addition I don't think my wife would go for it.
I just want to say that I completely agree with everything everbody said throughout this entire thread. Except of course for...

I bought new speakers a month or so ago. I purchased a pair of Sony SS M9 full range speakers. They are American made and designed. I think they sound great since I have good electronics driving them. They are much better than their smaller siblings in ever respect.
I don't know that they have changed my opinion about speaker priority, but they have imprssed me greatly as to how much difference a listener can experience with a better speaker.

Transducers, which convert mechanical vibration to electrical signals or vice versa are the components that really define sound characteristics. While electronics do make a contribution to the overall sound, their impact is comparitively minor.

The most important transducer in the process is one we have no control over: the microphone used to make the recording. Different brands and types of microphones sound vastly different when recording the same sound, and it's hard to say which one is the best. They just all sound different. Recording engineers prefer certain mics for particular instruments, just as I have suggested that certain speakers excel at particular kinds of music.

Phono pickups also exhibit dramatic differences.

Finally speakers are transducers, and they impose their particular sonic signature on the music. If you limit comparisons to speakers that are generally regarded as "good" the differences are not that great, (compared with microphones) and what's better or worse is largely a matter of individual preference.