Next Biggest Improvement after Speakers ?

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

Source Source Source.

Speakers only reproduce whats fed them,

So how can they be the most important part of a System.

Speakers are the one item that has the largest profit margin for dealers and Speaker MFG,
Typically the margin on Electronics is about 25/30%.

Speaker margins are 50/75%

Thats why the dealers say speakers is where to put most of your cash.

GARBAGE IN GARBAGE OUT>

3
Rooms 3 Identical Systems

3 different sources

3 Different sounds.

Which room sounds best?

not the one with the most expensive source, but the one with the best source of the 3.

$ and sound quality have nothin to do with each other.

The Pre amp with out a doubt, Then maybe the CHAIR.

Nrchy, Ivor wasn't exactly unbiased. His primary goal was to sell turntables. What do you think he would say?

Assume you are correct that the source is most important and all the other elements in the chain only degrade the signal. Can't you at least admit that the speakers would be second in importance, simply because they have more potential to screw up the sound than any other component? To say speakers are the least important component (less than cables?) seems disingenuous to me.

Like others have said, balance is the key. Every component must be of high quality or the weakest one will define the character of the system.