Speaker priority: high or low???


I have been reading the threads here for some time and following many of the discussions. During an interchange with another well known AudiogoNer we were commenting on peoples tastes and priorities. The discussion turned to speakers and he made the comment "many people on AudiogoN still think that speakers are the most important piece of the system." I was floored by his statement.
I'm not trying to start a fight with anyone and people can see what I have previously posted about this and other subjects, BUT are there still a lot of people that share this opinion?
Do you think the most important componant is your speakers? If not, what do you consider to be the most important? Why do you place so much emphasis on this componant?
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After I buy my new speakers I am looking at adding on to our house. A listening room is one of the things I plan to work on, of course the pretext is to gain a better master bedroom suite upstairs. Without that and a little kitchen addition I don't think my wife would go for it.
I just want to say that I completely agree with everything everbody said throughout this entire thread. Except of course for...
I bought new speakers a month or so ago. I purchased a pair of Sony SS M9 full range speakers. They are American made and designed. I think they sound great since I have good electronics driving them. They are much better than their smaller siblings in ever respect.
I don't know that they have changed my opinion about speaker priority, but they have imprssed me greatly as to how much difference a listener can experience with a better speaker.
Transducers, which convert mechanical vibration to electrical signals or vice versa are the components that really define sound characteristics. While electronics do make a contribution to the overall sound, their impact is comparitively minor.

The most important transducer in the process is one we have no control over: the microphone used to make the recording. Different brands and types of microphones sound vastly different when recording the same sound, and it's hard to say which one is the best. They just all sound different. Recording engineers prefer certain mics for particular instruments, just as I have suggested that certain speakers excel at particular kinds of music.

Phono pickups also exhibit dramatic differences.

Finally speakers are transducers, and they impose their particular sonic signature on the music. If you limit comparisons to speakers that are generally regarded as "good" the differences are not that great, (compared with microphones) and what's better or worse is largely a matter of individual preference.