So you've just heard speakers that blew you away


and you can afford them. What do you do? Do you buy them and put them into your system or do you purchase the whole system you heard them with? I've been getting back into audio this last year and I've decided to sell of everything that I've put together over the last 45 or so years. Even the Stax headphones will be sold. I have been fortunate to have a friend sell me his integrated and it was the one I heard the new speakers with. I upgraded the cables I heard them with in the store, but I did stay with the same brand as it's the most neutral cables I've heard. I even went with the DAC he had in the system. I've always felt that no component seems to sound the same once you change anything in the system and I finally found a dealer who seems to have the same ear as I do and I'm trusting him and having a BALL again. I dont' even have the speakers or cables yet and I'm still loving my new system.

How do you guys do it?
ctsooner
I've done that a couple times, complete with the selloff of parts (and later all) of my esoteric high-end headphone collection (Qualia 010, L3000, etc). The 1st time was a bad call. The 2nd time worked great, because by then I had a better handle of what I liked speaker-wise, and had owned/heard enough of that brand's models (Tannoy DC) to know I should stretch towards the biggest/best one I could afford -- Kensington SE, at the time. The in-shop audition definitely blew me away. Though after purchase, there was a rough patch for a few weeks as my supporting gear was not quite up to par (decimated after raising funds for the speaker, really) and I was figuring out placement issues. However, I do remember it all snapping into place with a particular placement and an old Eico HF-87 (w/ cheap EH EL34 tubes, no less), and it was glorious! Three very satisfying years followed, until I upgraded to a even bigger model in the line (Canterbury SE).

The speakers ARE the most important piece of a system, so I do think it's fine to plan around those first and bring the supporting gear in line a piece at a time as possible. Good speakers will plainly reveal individual changes, and let you know whether it was a good move. Good speakers can also play nicely with the right selection of "budget" gear. To me, a speaker touted as demanding only the very best in recordings and gear is not a speaker I will tolerate (read: usually the wrong kind of bright, analytical, bass shy, or all 3).

In retrospect, I approached this hobby without a sufficient amount of patience for far too long. And the cost of this is significant in time, money, and frustration.
Relax and buy the system you heard, have fun, and ignore all advice to the contrary.
Life will be more enjoyable and you will have good sound.