You've certainly come to the right place with this question. And you deserve a honest answer. Like most people you probably want to make good decisions on how to allocate your money. There is plenty of disagreement on this subject, but roughly I'd prioritize it this way: speakers, amplifier, cables, cd player. Rather than spend the most on your cd player, I'd say spend the least... even heaven forbid choosing a Sony, Pioneer, or Maranz. My experience has been that a good speaker/amplifier combination can still produce good tunes from a merely adequate source component. Then as your funds permit, you can upgrade your source and still hear the improvements through your speakers. The reason you hear so much about cables and power conditioners is that the name of the game is "system matching". You'll understand when you make your first cable upgrade and notice what you'd been missing all along. Every component you purchase (including stands and cables) alter the sound in some meaningful way. They might push the sound in the direction of being sharp but quick or dark and full to apply a few helpful adjectives. Ultimately, what you want to accomplish is a good balance of these contrasting effects. The problem for most of us "audiophools" is that we don't spend enough time with our components to learn what they contribute to the sonic soup. In order to take the next step from one component to the next, you must know what your speakers need--and this means knowing what you want from your system. The answer, well, I just want to hear music would miss the point. We're all listening to and enjoying music, but what we're trying to achieve is a connection to the music that the right sound promotes. A last bit of concrete advise, perhaps. Since you may be starting from scratch, I'd suggest that you not choose a separate amp and preamp, but instead choose a higher quality integrated amp. This will serve to eliminate several variables right away: you won't have to match the sonics of two components, the interconnect between them, and the extra power cord. So, the short answer to your question is, "yes", everything makes a difference and the name of the game is system matching. Imagine the sound your system produces as a composite color--changing a component is like tinting the color. If that analogy makes sense to you, then you are probably already an audiophile though you may not recognize it. Hope this helps to start you on the right track.
