A stupid question for which there's no sensible answer.


I know, I know. At least I've labeled it properly.

Here goes: of the following elements of a system, how would you rank their influence on the sound? In other words, generally, which would someone want to upgrade or prioritize, and in what order,  if all of the following pieces were inferior to an amp/preamp and speakers they were happy with? Power cables, connector cables. speaker cables. streaming source, music source, dac (I vote for this one as #1), room treatment, speaker placement, type of chair, earwax quotient, what you ate for lunch, etc.

I hereby give my permission for everyone to tell me this is an idiotic question since the real answer is: it depends. (But I did put a "generally" in there somewhere). Anyway, I prefer that we debate this based on what we've experienced when we've tinkered. So I guess I'm really interested in anecdotes.

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Reading my post, I can see that I'm a master of posing unanswerable/possibly pointless questions. Nonetheless, if anyone has pondered any of this, I'd be curious to hear his thoughts (are there women on the forum? There must be.).
At what point is a system/QS good enough? If tinkering is fun, I guess it doesn’t matter.

I suppose the answer is its all a personal thing. Whatever turns one on.

Tinkering is fun. That said, not all decisions are created equal. The key is to make well informed decisions not based merely on hearsay.

The good new is with the internet all the info needed is out there here and elsewhere. One just need to be able to synthesis it properly. Not always an easy task. Having a solid base of technical knowledge to build on is the key to actual results. Everyone should do their homework!



I agree. On an informational level, an incredible amount of stuff is online somewhere, but that has its limitations.
I can see that I'm a master of posing unanswerable/possibly pointless questions.
I like your manner.... By the way it is what true master of life are....




Apart of all this information technical mostly it is very important to experiment ourself in listening and feed back modifications...

What we inform with in these experiments cannot be look for on the internet...

Our listening room and gear is a very specified and unique system related to our ears.... And improving it call not only for tech information but for experiments.... Simple onee but many experiments...

I transform totally my system this way...

Tech information is basic and generic, generic because tech information apply to all audio system... A slight modification in your room nowhere else described is specific and can give great benefit also.... I call that listenings experiments... I created all my devices this way....

Technical information is necessary but dont replace creativity.....And sometimes technical information conditioned us in the road where all are going.... all throw money to so called better design for example.... Creativity let you created your own road...At no cost....

No technical information given to me give me the idea to place a salt lamp near speakers....

My "nutty" example is volontarily chosen to be "nutty" for the clarity of what i speak about...

Idiots can laugh....


Single most important factor is your room. It's not just speaker placement or room treatments, some speakers will never work well in your room no matter where you put them or how many magic panels you put up. You have to find a speaker that works in your room, then find an amp that drives the speaker well, and then use the rest of your cash for the best preamp and source components you can afford. The last components to consider are cables and power conditioners and room treatments, because while everything makes a difference, you can find reasonable alternatives to the pricey doodads (e.g., having an electrician wire you a dedicated outlet may be cheaper than a $5K conditioner, or look into those cheap Belden speaker wires which sound damned good in some systems and will serve you well until you can afford the fancy stuff). But if your speakers don't play your room, your megabuck DAC will sound like crap.