Don't use price or allocation formulas to build a system. The key is balance, synergy, and value.
You won't know where to allocate your funds until you are actually auditioning units. A good dealer should have units at a number of different price points. This is about listening and about developing good instincts. You should have CD player X and Y, amp X and Y, preamp X and Y, and speakers X and Y in mind and then it is up to you to organize them into an arrangement that sounds good and meets your budget. Also, think about how often you are likely to upgrade and what kinds of compromises you are willing to make. Do you need a lot of bass or would you rather have a more refined but smaller speaker? Ect.
That said, I think in a system like this the speakers should actually wind up being the least expensive component. I would spend $600-$1,200. You would be better off getting a capable but inexpensive speaker now and laying the foundation for a future speaker upgrade with a solid amp and preamp. Build around a really good preamp and amplifier. Split what is left between your digital source and your speakers.
The reason is that, I know for a fact that there are $650 monitor speakers that have the detail, refinement, and imaging to keep up with a much better amp and preamp, but the reverse is almost never true. Pairing insufficient amps and preamps with higher end speakers usually results in an unpleasant system because you wind up just hearing more of the mediocre source components and the purpose of having the better speakers is defeated. Especially if your source is digital, you are going to want to have a really good digital source before thinking about your dream speakers.
For example, I have about $7k of amp/preamp in front of my B&W N804s that cost me around $4k. When I got those speakers I was using an old integrated amplifier (Audiolab) for my preamp and the system was just harsh and unpleasant. It wasn't until I parked about $5k of preamp in front of those speakers that they sounded spectacular. Until that point, they were like having a microscope on my mediocre integrated. This is the type of situation that creates upgrade fever and it can be avoided.
Slapping really great speakers on a system that can't keep up is sort of like that Woody Allen joke: "boy, the food here is really terrible, and the portions are too small." Why would you want more of something that is terrible? Do the front end stuff first and just find some speakers that sound good to you to start.
You won't know where to allocate your funds until you are actually auditioning units. A good dealer should have units at a number of different price points. This is about listening and about developing good instincts. You should have CD player X and Y, amp X and Y, preamp X and Y, and speakers X and Y in mind and then it is up to you to organize them into an arrangement that sounds good and meets your budget. Also, think about how often you are likely to upgrade and what kinds of compromises you are willing to make. Do you need a lot of bass or would you rather have a more refined but smaller speaker? Ect.
That said, I think in a system like this the speakers should actually wind up being the least expensive component. I would spend $600-$1,200. You would be better off getting a capable but inexpensive speaker now and laying the foundation for a future speaker upgrade with a solid amp and preamp. Build around a really good preamp and amplifier. Split what is left between your digital source and your speakers.
The reason is that, I know for a fact that there are $650 monitor speakers that have the detail, refinement, and imaging to keep up with a much better amp and preamp, but the reverse is almost never true. Pairing insufficient amps and preamps with higher end speakers usually results in an unpleasant system because you wind up just hearing more of the mediocre source components and the purpose of having the better speakers is defeated. Especially if your source is digital, you are going to want to have a really good digital source before thinking about your dream speakers.
For example, I have about $7k of amp/preamp in front of my B&W N804s that cost me around $4k. When I got those speakers I was using an old integrated amplifier (Audiolab) for my preamp and the system was just harsh and unpleasant. It wasn't until I parked about $5k of preamp in front of those speakers that they sounded spectacular. Until that point, they were like having a microscope on my mediocre integrated. This is the type of situation that creates upgrade fever and it can be avoided.
Slapping really great speakers on a system that can't keep up is sort of like that Woody Allen joke: "boy, the food here is really terrible, and the portions are too small." Why would you want more of something that is terrible? Do the front end stuff first and just find some speakers that sound good to you to start.