How much does power amplifier really matter comparing to other hi-fi components?


What is the best ratio (out of a total of 100%) in terms of money to put in a high-end hi-fi set containing:
1. CD player/DAC, 2. Pre-amp, 3. Power-amp, 4. speakers.
(25% will be assigned to each if the 4 parts are equal).
Can we take this as a reference to distribute the budget when buying power-amp?

Looking forward to learning experiences and technical information from audiophiles including hi-fi dealers.
cclee2022

Showing 1 response by thyce

I love the question.  What you didn't ask about was the way more expensive room treatments, cables, power conditioners, isolation pads, racks, and subwoofers.  Those actually cost more than the components in question in both my listening rooms.  

To answer your question, I have a dedicated listening room and nearfield setup in my office.  I'll start with the big system with BIG speakers that unsurprisingly ate up 40% of the total cost despite answer 1 equipment, the DAC/clock/upsampler stack being absolutely ridiculously expensive, possibly the most expensive, and only accounting for 9.8% of the total budget:
1) 9.8%
2) 19.1%
3) 31%
4) 40.1%

The little nearfield office setup does have small-ish speakers.  But they are possibly the best nearfield speakers and are shockingly expensive for their size, yet answer 4 this time is only 8.5% of the total cost:
1) 17.6%
2) 28%
3) 45.7%
4) 8.5%

Cheers!