Next Biggest Improvement after Speakers ?

source is paramount you can not improve anything downstream
without addressing the source first. then the speakers next.

How come no one mention about the CHAIR :(

It's been said, but the room is the most important thing. An average system can sound good in a great room. A great system will sound average in a poor room.

Then address the source. Mlauner is right nothing will add back into the system what was missed at the source.

All things being equal speakers are the least important link in the chain.

Ivor is right in his hiarchy of importance. He just forgot to mention that the room is Number 1!!!

Rooms are easier and cheaper to tweak too!

Well, now for a contrarian point of view regarding this old chicken vs egg argument. Obviously the room is the most important item, however I never bought Ivor's argument for one reason - If you pick high quality, neutral and revealing speakers to match your room, you can (and probably will) change your electronics to tailor your sound - or not -and you'll always hears the difference(s). But if you have poor speakers all you will hear is poor sound and you won't know why, let alone what the differences are in the electronics that you are paying for.! A quality pair of well chosen speakers can easily last 15 to 25 years - 2 to three times longer than your electronics will. The only hitch to this is that getting these speakers first will sort of demand that you assemble high quality electronics and sources which might be a financial burden for some.

Hello, Dalton. There is a small camp here in Agon that believes the amplifier is far more important than the speaker for best sonic improvements.

I believe that the best amplifier in the world can make a pair of mediocre speakers sound fantastic. But the best speakers in the world will never sound better than the mediocre amplifier driving them.

I'd recommend concentrating on the amp first (and by a wide margin), and then speakers next.

-IMO