Source vs Target: where is the weakness?

This should make an interesting thread. There will likely be as many opinions as people.

Although I don't consider myself a Linnie, I do agree with Linn in one respect. You should start upgrading at the source components and work your way forward through to the speakers. This way changes will be cumulative.

Within reason of course.

The source is the key. However, there are real world trade-offs. For example, speakers are harder to sell and ship so should you get great speakers first and hold onto them? Or, what if a really great amp deal came along? Should you then build the rest of the system around it? Since these kinds of situations occur all the time, the pragmatic answer is normally "it depends". That's what makes this hobby so much fun. All else equal, most would argue to start with the source and build it out as Kinsekd suggests (I say "most" based on past threads related to this question). I look forward to other responses.

I agree with Kinsekd - this is the path I followed for my own upgrade and it worked extremely well with very satisfying results. HOWEVER, it requires speakers that are sensistive enough to expose the strengths and weaknesses of upstream components, including cable. This leads us to the all important historical question

Which came first the chicken or the egg?