Whats more important? Speaker or the Amp

Whats more important? Speaker or the Amp

Which came first? The chicken or the egg?

I would agree with the hen/egg paradigm. HOWEVER, atmasphere gives a nice and simple overview of the matter.

In this light, a subjective solution to the conundrum is simple: single out which one of these two components is a favourite (as in, I love these spkrs! or, I love my amps).

The other component being incidental, we can choose whichever will perform with our "loved" one.

Remember, you are asking this question in the speaker forum. :-) However, I do agree with the overall sentiment expressed above that speakers determine the sound quality most.

Both!

Actually speakers first - you can get away with slighlty crappy amplification but the speakers have to be well-balanced. Then you need a amplifier that controls these 'great' speakers very well. If you have crappy control over speakers they'll sound flabby and loose...

It is not uncommon to have an amp that is twice the rated power that the speakers need - more control - just be very careful not to over-power the speakers...

Regards,
Dewald Visser

Mt10425, your response made me chuckle, as it's not useless. Dave Wilson has gone to lengths to prove that his speakers still sound great no matter what level of amplification.

I haven't seen any one from linn take their source and hook it up to a cheap amp and some sub par speakers and say "look, my cd player can make any set of speakers sound good."