How do you determine how much to spend on speakers

Krayzeeyk (Curb fan?),

Here's my advice:

1. Speakers make the biggest difference. Spend the most money here.

2. Cd source is almost as important. Spend the next largest amount on the cd player.

3. Amps are amps after the first $500. Sound improvement is in the smallest increment here. Golden Ears say otherwise, but for the rest of us...Of course, amps have a very high "cool" factor that might lead you to spend your cash here. Be honest with yourself, if cool factor is important spend more money on your amp.

Virgil, I completely disagree. My upgrade in amps was one of the top two most significant improvements I made. I wouldn't have the enjoyment and world class sound I'm getting now without my VAC.

Dennis_the_menace

I'm glad the upgrade was worth it for you, but in my experience it just is not cost effective to spend a large percentage of my audio system's budget to upgrade amps. IMO, sink $2000 in an amp upgrade and I see only a little benefit [unless it replaces a very old or just plain bad amp]. Spend that $2000 on a speaker upgrade and the benefits are incredible.

There's certainly an argument for amps giving sound benefits, definitely more so than cables or line amplifiers which I consider bordering on quackery. It's just that I consider amps the third most important after source and speaker; and a distant third for me.

Everyone's mileage varies of course.

!0 years ago i was in the exact same boat.I put almost all my money into the speakers(B+W matrix 801s series 3).I have never regreted doing it that way and would still do it the same way.Incidently I still have the 801's but now with a highend front end.With each improvement I got to rediscover all my cds all over again.I had alot of enjoyment doing it this way.Now I have bryston sst amps,bryston preamp with dac etc..The speaker does still make the single biggest difference in the sound of reproduced music....goodluck..

I'm with Dennis_The_Menace, with minor reservations.

With the great older speakers out there, you needn't spend a lot on speakers. Also, new midfy front ends are closing in on hify performance.

Virgil, you may be correct that $2000 amp upgrades will not buy musical bliss, but with the advent of the new CLASS D amps burgeoning onto the scene, $2000 into new amps will go a LONG way into improving your system's sound. In fact, it most probably will be all you need to spend on amps.

I have $1500 in glorious used speakers (Apogee Scintilla) that defy modern speaker attempts to equal. Added to those, $1000 in a wonderful transport/DAC front end (Liteon DVDROM/Audio NoteDAC). Most importantly, I put $3000 into mono blocks (H2O ICE powered class D), and that took my system into a stunning new universe of sound reproduction parameters.