How important is the amp?

10-10-15: Nonoise
...... Having said that, the biggest distortion generator in the audio chain is the speaker. Hands down.

I agree Nonoise. I stated this in another thread not too long ago & was challenged by the fellow who makes the Lightspeed Attenuator preamp (the one that has optical coupling for signal propagation). He insisted that it was the preamp & that I would surprised it was the preamp hence his design effort to minimize the distortion from it. He pointed me to his white paper which was an OK read. I figured it would be a pissing match if I countered his argument.
In the end, I also agree speakers are the worst offenders but I learnt that not everyone agrees on this. This surprised me as it's so easy to hear the distortion thru speakers esp. if they are not time-coherent (which 99% in the market are not). Anyway, just a side comment FWIW.

@Bombaywalla, you wrote the following "side comment" above:

"In the end, I also agree speakers are the worst offenders but I learnt that not everyone agrees on this. This surprised me as it's so easy to hear the distortion thru speakers esp. if they are not time-coherent (which 99% in the market are not). Anyway, just a side comment FWIW:

Of course, ... how could one not but agree. It's common sense. But your "side comment FWIW" is a pet issue of mine: namely, time coherence. Add to that room effect factors.

If interested in my "FWIW side comment," take a look at the "DEQX Game Changer" thread, which has over 400 posts, including contributions from Al (Almarg). IMO, I think the DEQX addresses many speaker/room related problems touched on in this thread that transcends many "simple" amp/speaker compatibility issues.

I think the most likely source of distortion or any form of inaccuracy in the signal chain are found in the opinions expressed by the listener.

Wolf ... you crack me up. So true!!!

Thanks Al and Bombaywalla for the the kind words.

Bifwynne, you beat me to it. There's nothing like a little Wolf to keep things chugging along in the most humorous of ways.

All the best,
Nonoise