Should speakers be upgraded before preamp and amplifiers?

Everyone is full of advice on how to spend your money.  Forget that advice.  Start with an assessment of what you currently have.  What do you like about it?  What are the positive things about it that you want to retain in your new system?  What do you hear that you would like to improve upon?  What music sources are you most interested in?  Vinyl?  CDs?  Streaming? etc.  Once you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, your shopping list will be easier to start to sort out.  Be flexible.  You might start out thinking that you want a tube preamp, but discover that you can achieve your objectives with a class D integrated, and if you do something like that you can afford much better speakers.  I say this because in my primary system the electronics are all top of the line Conrad-Johnson tube, whereas I just assembled a new system for my second home and bought a Marantz P10 on close out for a song that sounds quite good even in comparison.  I did not start out thinking I would end up with this amp, but by knowing what my goals were for the sound sought that is how it worked out.  Do a lot of soul searching.  Start with listening very carefully to what you have now.  Remember, what do you like, what do you want to improve?  I spent 6 months getting inside my own head on that stuff first.

Thanks for the good advice and recommendations, looking into them.

In the end, you gotta ask yourself, "do I want to be able to listen to my system for hours at a time and look forward to next time? The presentation of a loudspeaker and how it interacts with a specific person is the basis to evolve.

If your main source is vinyl try adding an inexpensive (but good) tube phono preamp through the Sansui.

Hagerman has one for $650 and Tubes4HiFi has one (built) for $400.

The Tubes4HiFi PH14 (I read here) is based upon the EAR 834P, which is a good thing if done right. 

Have you had the Sansui refurbished and do you use lead shot in the bases of the VR2's?

Wonder how many posting have heard a 9090DB?

 

DeKay

 

If possible, listen to different systems to define the sonic and physical attributes that work for you. Then narrow your search to components within your budget that have those attributes. You'll have your road map. I would go after the sources and el electronics. Then the speakers and the room will be the limiting factors.