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Poll: Most impactful component

Given all the technological advances over the years, audiophiles have very different perspectives on equipment.

This likely reopens an age old debate, but which component has the most potential to improve a stereo system? Or can it?

If you could upgrade one component to take your system to the next level which one would get the investment? Speakers? DAC? Pre? Source?

Or is this the holy grail that no one can achieve?

 

 

tee_dee
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
1,913 posts
 

Of surprise to me, power amp has consistently been the biggest difference maker in my journey.  

painter24's avatar
painter24
302 posts
 

My room. Whilst I'm grateful ful I have a dedicated room, I know it is too small for what I want to achieve, so I have to live with compromise despite room treatments

jtcf's avatar
jtcf
1,620 posts
 

Right now my source is the weakest component. But my room is not great either.

dynamiclinearity
269 posts
 

Duh, speaker, of course. Everything in the chain matters. But speakers vary significantly more than any other link in the chain(the cartridge is second in an analog system) so their choice gives many more variations to find sound you like and conversely it is by far the link in the chain that can produce sound you don't like and there are probably many more speakers whose voice you don't like than you do like.

knotscott
931 posts
 

Right now my source is the weakest component. But my room is not great either.

Source is usually easier to fix, so work on both... 😎

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