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ROI. Where is money better spent?

Sorry if the category is not quite accurate, but i would like the opinion of the knowledgable crew here. I am shopping for a preamp and interconnects, source to pre, and pre to amp, balanced. I am not looking for any brand recommendation, but want to know that if i had some xtra money to spend, should it go into better cables or better preamp? Thanks and happy holidays!
128x128droleg
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

In all my testing, I would probably say the amplifier is the least impactful than any other component.  A bad choice in amp can definitely cause your system to sound bad, but as long as you have a generally good choice, the differences between two amps are going to be less then the differences between two choices of preamps/source.  The speaker is probably the biggest change, so make sure it's a speaker you generally like the sonic signature of.

The preamp is important, but I would also say your source (DAC/turntable/etc) is also very important.  One thing I have found is that if the sound quality / resolution is not there from the source, you are never going to get it back by putting in a super expensive preamp/amp.

jafant
19,034 posts
 
droleg-

the pre-amp, as it were, is the heart of any system. You will want to go all-out on this piece alone.  Once it is nailed down, then, you can focus on cabling.  Happy Listening!
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,442 posts
 
Preamp for sure and the room at the same time. Get a preamp with room correction. Room correction done right helps you hear what your speakers were meant to sound like. 
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bigkidz
3,333 posts
 
I agree with ricred1 Preamp or DAC with preamp functionality.  Get eh best source you can before all the other stuff.  I build equipment and I make a DHT DAC and DHT preamp.  As good as the preamp is in comparison to every preamp I have compared it to, the DAC make much more of an overall improvement.  The DAC changed the sound in every system we have auditioned it in much more than the preamp did.  Happy Listening. 
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