Speaker priority: high or low???

Perhaps we arent audiophiles because we dont believe that everything matters and snicker a little every time we see the word "synergy," but many many people think that speakers are the most important component in an audio system. This is because those of us who hold to this belief have not found very many speakers to like, understanding as I say this that there are thousands of hi-fi speakers out there - they all sound different from one another - and they all have their fans.

I would be content with an inexpensive amplifier like a NAD and a pair of Harbeth speakers, but I could not live with a $10,000 amp and a pair of B&W 302s (or even comparably priced AE Aegis Ones, which I actually like). I am not alone. But most people who agree with me do not frequent this site.

Assuming a certain minimum level of competence, good amplifiers are not hard to find. Most competently reproduce and transmit the signal they are fed - even though they may have some character as opposed to complete neutrality, it is not nearly the kind of character speakers have. Speakers are another story. Most are afflicted with a variety of colorations. They do not have flat frequency responses and their designers rarely know how to account for the inevitable interactions with real life listening rooms. Then there is the material coloration some people hear from almost all dynamic drivers (e.g., those made of paper, polypropylene or metal).

To put it simply, if you believe that flat frequency response and low distortion matters, you should be inclined to believe that speakers are more important because they have the greatest deviations from flat response and the most distortion. If you believe that those measurements do not matter (for example you like tube amps that do not have flat responses), then you might be inclined to think that amps are more important.

Paul

I sit here playing lp's through my herron phono stage equiped with some new cryro tubes from Brendan at Tubeworld, in dis-belief. Paul is correct, it all matters. The problem is that you just need to sell your cars and kids to play this game. I am down to 2 kids now, I will miss the Honda.

Common Audio Sense -- (Apparently) A Minority Perspective

To say that the transducer is the most important part of a system is understatement.

I would wager that most of us would have little problem in identifying speaker "A" over speaker "B" from two rooms away. I would also wager that those of us who believe that the amplifer is what molds the sound of a system would not be able to consistently determine the differences between or identify one quality transistor amp from another in a controlled double blind --- or to conssistently diifferentiate between one high quality tube amplifer and another under the above described conditions. This position, of course, assumes that the amplifiers measure well and are of the same approximate wattage and current ratings as well as input sensitivities.

System synergy? I don't deny it exists. However, all too often it is a euphemism for the equivalent of an equalizer. That is "compensating," for example, for an overly bright forward sounding speaker with a polite and rolled off tube amplifier.

On a more positive note, I do agree, in part, with Beemer. The room is very important and sometimes the only way to upgrade is to move. ;>

Cliff

I also agree with Beemer. It is not just 1 piece that makes a system, it is how all pieces work together. Spend $5000 on an amp, $5000 on speakers, and $200 on a cd player or $200 on a turntable cartridge, you get crap. An amplifier nor speakers will not make a bad source component sound good. I have heard other people discuss that the most important piece of equipment is the source object itself, be it a cartridge, cd player, dvd player, etc.... A nice amplifier will amplify crap to louder crap. Hook up a pair of NHT superzeros to a Levinson or Classe monoblock amp and you will not get any more low end than hooking these speakers to a smaller integrated amp.

Just a note, Paul: It is not tube amplifiers that do not have flat response within the audioband - most do, as do amps in general. It is some speakers possessing uneven or reactive electrical impedance characteristics that will display slight deviations from flat response when driven by tube amplifiers, or by some SS amplifiers that eschew high levels of loop negative feedback in their designs.