Curious .. What is the compared price of your tt vs spkrs

I want to disagree with almarg's characterization of Linn's philosophy.  I'm not sure he has thought it through completely, or listened to systems with a poor turntable and great speakers versus the opposite(by opposite, on speakers, I'm not talking about poorly designed ones, just cheaper ones.).  A turntable that preserves the rhythm of the music can still be enjoyable to listen to, but I don't know of any speakers that could make up for a lack of rhythm, and due to that, the system will be less enjoyable to listen to.

)While it is true that the downstream components cannot correct for the shortcomings of the turntable, it is also true that the turntable cannot correct for the shortcomings of the downstream components. So while both statements are true, neither has any significance.

Agree both of these statements are true. In my opinion both statements are significant.

If anything that confirms what I have learned at this point in my journey. Your system is only as strong as your weakest link. My analog front end (table,cart, phono) cost 3.5 times more than my speakers retail. Yes this is not ideal but I am not in a permanent space so dropping $$$$ on speakers in a room that will change is something I am not ready to do.

I will say that every time I have upgraded Table, cart, phono or power amp the speakers have made a jump in performance.On the other side of the argument the speakers are probably not giving me everything the analog front end is capable.

I guess my point is a balanced system seems to be a good goal. I eventually will balance my system. I do think spending $$$$ on speakers and then low balling everything else can’t be optional. The speakers are capable of much more I promise you,.

Darkstar1, I agree completely with the chain is as strong as its weakest link philosophy, and I’ve stated exactly that in a number of past threads. And I am in essential agreement with everything else in your post.

What I was disagreeing with is the notion that a turntable has any particular likelihood of being the weak link in a system, compared to the speakers and electronics, AS A RESULT OF being first in the chain.

Mmakshak, assuming that you’ve read both of my earlier posts in this thread (the second having added clarification to the first), and assuming that both posts came across clearly to you, we’ll just have to agree to disagree. Although I recognize that there are many audiophiles who would agree with you, and that the Linn philosophy did gain significant traction over the years, after Mr. Tiefenbrun introduced it.

Mostly unrelated to all of that, but having some relevance to the original question, I would add to what has been said the thought that for a given level of quality what a speaker can cost often tends to vary dramatically depending on its maximum volume capability (or more specifically, its ability to comfortably handle high volume dynamic peaks, such as are often found in well engineered minimally compressed recordings of classical symphonic music), and also depending on the deep bass extension the speaker can provide. And the extent to which those capabilities are necessary or can be compromised will of course vary greatly from listener to listener, which is one of the reasons why the ratio of speaker cost to front end cost tends to vary so much among different listeners.

Regards,
-- Al

Mostly unrelated to all of that, but having some relevance to the original question, I would add to what has been said the thought that for a given level of quality what a speaker can cost often tends to vary dramatically depending on its maximum volume capability (or more specifically, its ability to comfortably handle high volume dynamic peaks, such as are often found in well engineered minimally compressed recordings of classical symphonic music), and also depending on the deep bass extension the speaker can provide. And the extent to which those capabilities are necessary or can be compromised will of course vary greatly from listener to listener, which is one of the reasons why the ratio of speaker cost to front end cost tends to vary so much among different listeners.

Couldn't agree more. Some of the high dollar speakers I have heard had deep bass, played loud and had hyper resolution. Lucky for me ultra resolution and playing really loud don't do it for me and I can easily compromise on bass. So yeah I can be satisfied with a cheaper speaker than many people. Probably why my analog has more money in it than the speakers. The speakers never seemed to disappoint me when the cheaper source did. 

I,d rather hear a clean source thru mid grade speakers ,then  mid grade source through high end spkrs .Balance is key(as a musician),I grab my prs or my martin guitar and plug it into a decent amp(even a practice amp ) vs grabbing my mid grade epihone and play it through a nice tube marshall ..I plug the prs into the tube marshall ..But again i believe the room acoustics play a large role in the overall performance of spkrs.The tt is gonna perform its task in any room(yes a good match cart tonearm etc ) just my two cents. with my sub I,m about even,not because i chose it just went that way.I can say it will overtake the spkrs when i step up in level with cartridge.currently i run a benz ace (classic 1)