Screw it, get a Bose Wave Radio and let the mind take over and enjoy the music. Maybe that's the only way only one component can get us anywhere near where we want to be.
Wow, there are a lot of perspectives here and it seems most are correct given their underlying assumptions. Twl, if the rest of the system is decent, I believe the front end makes a huge difference. If any one part is insanely bad (per your point KF), surely nothing else matters but replacing that part. Great speakers can make a very good system sound better (and, by the way, speakers are a good place to start if you hate buying and selling heavy and bulky things and/or if you are aiming for a specific "sound" that is characterized by a specific speaker). For me, the most important part is the one I want to upgrade next. In other words, so much depends on the system already in place. To paraphrase, if the a**hole works and the brain works and the heart is in trouble, the heart is the most important.
Wow, there are a lot of perspectives here and it seems most are correct given their underlying assumptions. Twl, if the rest of the system is decent, I believe the front end makes a huge difference. If any one part is insanely bad (per your point KF), surely nothing else matters but replacing that part. Great speakers can make a very good system sound better (and, by the way, speakers are a good place to start if you hate buying and selling heavy and bulky things and/or if you are aiming for a specific "sound" that is characterized by a specific speaker). For me, the most important part is the one I want to upgrade next. In other words, so much depends on the system already in place. To paraphrase, if the a**hole works and the brain works and the heart is in trouble, the heart is the most important.