Why do folks spend more on electronics than on speakers?

I'm with @mrteeves 

The only good reason for cutting back on speakers cost is in very small rooms where big speakers don't work well and small speakers are necessarily much cheaper.

Don't ignore the cost of room treatments.  These can be just as important as speakers and closely intertwined.  The cost of both should be lumped together as a proportion of system cost and in my view should be 35-40%, except in a very small room.

Front ends are often under budgeted too, except for often large expenditure on a DAC.  DA conversion is the bugbear of digital audio, the problems may never be solved, so for the digital addict perhaps 15-20% of system cost is not excessive in the vain search to turn digital slices into holistic analogue reality.

For vinyl enthusiasts there can be good reason to spend 35-40% of budget on the front end, comprising as it does turntable, arm, cartridge and phono amp.  And perhaps record cleaner.

All in all, this leaves no more than 30% for pre and power amps.  That may be plenty.  It has often been said that transducers are the most difficult components to get right.

And for 'tweeks' and snake oil?  0% please.

Speakers 4k retail , 2k used but basically just open box no warranty.

Integrated 5k retail , black friday 4.2k

Speaker cable 1.4k, 2 meter pair , bought new.

Etherregen plus Chinese clock plus 2 LPS and interconnects 1.4k power supplies and cables 2nd hand.

Subwoofer plus interconnect 1.1k

Power conditioning and DIY power cables 2k

Component isolation , black ravioli bases and pads 3k

Apple tv4k plus interconnects 500

Grounding, coherent RTZ 1 and black ravioli black hole with cabling 1.6k

Tweaks:contact enhancers, fuses, fo.q tape, ect 1.5k

Speaker stands and Gaia footers 600

Speakers are getting down to 10% of my system build. I'm considering a better clock and or better power supply for my switch next.

I stream qobuz and YouTube.

With the right recording qobuz is holographic in my room. Youtube does not run through my switch sounds wonderfully musical with the right recording but not as holigraphic. My amp has lyngdorf room correction.

@clearthinker good point about vinyl listening and tailoring your expenses to what your end game interest is.

I would absolutely agree.

As far as the golden ratio of money spent in a Hifi system, I too wonder about this and still do.

I started at a 3-2-1 (speakers, amplifier, DAC) kinda mindset, rudimentary and cursory, but that's just way to simplified and I learned that early on.

Now I'd probably buy into the 1-1-2-2 (source, DAC, amplifier, speakers with or without sub's), but even that isn't a hard and fast rule.

I currently have a roughly 1-1-1-1.5-1 system (source, DAC, preamp, amp, speakers with dual sub's).

Biggest point is, there isn't an absolute and there's always exceptions. But a part of me does feel that this hobby is pulling people hard away from speakers being the "be all end all" purchase. Because as we all know you can only listen to one set of speakers, but you can add countless expensive pieces in between.

This is also a better way to separate us from our good senses and pocket books. Asking for a dollar ten times over versus 10 bucks all at once.

EtherRegen, Innuos Zenith MK3, Phoenix USB, Singxer-SU6, Molo Mola Tambaqui, Technics SU-R1000, Parasound JC1+'s, JBL L-100 75's, JL Audio Fathom 13's

I'm now looking at my reference speakers being anywhere from 10-20k. I also have a second system priced 1-1-1-1-1, everything piece costing roughly 3k.

Innuos Zen MK3, Musetec 005, Technics SU-G700 MK2, CA Azure 851w mono's, Kef LS50 meta's with dual Kube 12b subwoofers.

 Don't forget headphones, headphones amps, turntables and cartridges!

I’ve spent about $20K on my current set-up. About half that was on the floor-standing speakers plus a small subwoofer. I might spring for a bigger/better subwoofer at some point. However, it seems like most of the interesting innovations are in the electronics. Lately, for example, Gallium Nitride is a new (?) wrinkle in class D amps. Or suddenly, somebody will release a new DAC chip with bold claims for improved detail or better imaging. A few companies are integrating optical fiber technology into their server/streamer components. Meanwhile, loudspeaker technology doesn’t seem to change all that much. I’ll take a chance on ordering an electric component for $3K-$5K, then send it back if not satisfied. That is harder to do with a big, heavy pair of loudspeakers. Furthermore, unless you over-drive them, loudspeakers don’t often fail and almost never become "obsolete". Some of us would not say the same about CD players, MP3s, cassette tape decks, AM radio, tuners/receivers ... and maybe record players.  Still, on my current set-up (not counting every component I've traded in or stored away), I've spent about as much on speakers as on all the electronics put together.

@nyev 

Give Rockports a listen. Incredible detail zero fatigue. Good luck! 
 

Ron