How do you determine how much to spend on speakers

The most important thing about building a system is component matching. You can go out a spend all you dough on "class A" components and end up with system that sounds very very bad. This happens more often than not. That is why there so much equipment for sale on Audiogon. Most people don't know what they are doing and have to upgrade all the time because they are never satisfied with the sound.

Make sure you know what you want before you buy anything. I think the most overlooked thing about choosing speakers is their sensitivity and impedance. This will determine what kind of amp you will need to buy.

For instance, if you like electrostatics or planar speakers, you will have to buy big solid state gear since these speakers are difficult to drive and have low sensitivity.

If you like the sound of tube gear, then you should buy effecient speakers (>93db/w/m).

Things like sonic characteristics is also important because if you buy foward speakers and match it a foward amp then you may get an unbearable stereo system.

Everyone will tell you their system is the best sounding system in the world and every review will tell you that some component sounds better than anything twice its price. Its all bunk.

Make sure you know what everything will sound like together before you buy anything.

I always recommend easy to drive speakers because it will give you more options when choosing your other gear.

If you have a very revealing speaker (or video display in a HT), you will hear (see) deficiencies in your upstream components. I would recommend settling on a neutral, musical speaker that does not emphasize detail or soundstaging, but which has the correct overall tonal balance for your ears and type of music. Then get the best electronics you can afford. In other words, high end speakers driven by average electronics will NOT sound as good as good electronics driving average speakers. I am also a fan of Vandersteen speakers; my Model 2cis have continued to show more and more of what they can do as I upgraded my source and electronics. My current system has $(speakers)< $(preamp)= $amp = $CD. Or maybe better stated as 16% speakers, and 28% each in the amp, preamp, and CDP, for a total system list (new) of about $7.5K. Not part of an overall plan, just how it worked out. And this does not count cables and stands. Of course, with the exception of the speakers, I bought it all used for less than 1/2 of list.

It depends.
I used to use the rule of thumb of 50% of the total budget on speakers. That worked well (40%+) until I found a great speaker that could be made arguably the "best speaker on the planet" by actively bi-amping them. Now the actually speaker price is a mere 25% of the total price.
I think that with the high quality of some of the speakers today, the percentage of the total system cost has dropped.

Source Source Source.
1.5k Source
2.0K Amp/PRE
1.7K speakers
300.00 Wire from www.diycable.com.Its all the cable you will ever need.
Suggestion Rega Jupiter 2000
Rouge 66/88 Combo
Speakers what ever you can Audition in your own home with the said Electronics or electronics of your choice..Buy the speakers last.Buy the speakers last.
Trust me its the best way to do it.
Dont make the # 1 mistake in audio of buying speakers first.
If you can get the stuff Used even better.
Email me if you have any questions.

Just a couple of weeks ago, a little group I bounce ideas back and forth with brought up the topic of best sound for the money. FWIW, Dr. RE Greene (of The Absolute Sound) suggested spending almost everything on your speakers. He has heard and reviewed a lot of components over many years. He went so far as to suggest, based on his observations, that he would spend $6k on a pair of Harbeth Monitor 40s [his present reference speaker] and drive them with a NAD amp, if he had to. This would make him the most satisfied. (This is an oversimplification of our discussion, but the point is clear.)

My recommendation would be [a bit more conservative] to spend about $2.5k or so and get a pair of Harbeth C7s or Spendor SP 1/2. These are very accurate BBC heritage monitors that would last you a lifetime. You can research them easily. The rest could be spent on a used Bel Canto DAC1 ($650) with a new Pioneer DVD player ($275)as a transport, and the new Creek 5350SE integrated amp ($1500 new.) Also consider a good subwoofer. The rest you can do foolish things with wires, cables, etc... (Or you could buy some music!)

Good luck to you.

Charlie