How do you determine how much to spend on speakers

As of now, the only components that I have considered are

Bryston 4B-st (used)
Rotel 971 cd player (used if possible)
Sonus Faber Grand Pianos

Ive only listened to the grand pianos, I liked them much more than the B&W nautilus 803s and the highest cdmt model. Unfortunately, I was not able to swap components on the same system to gauge the sound difference. The sonus fabers were attached to a rotel integrated amp and a denon cd player. The 803's were set up in a system with classe components. In spite of the larger price tag ofthe classe components, I liked the sound of the pianos more. Cannot say if the room made any difference. The 4B-st and the 971 grabbed my attention because Ive read numerous articles about them being "best bang for the buck" value components.
I have not given pre amps much consideration yet.
Anyone have any experiences with these components. Thanks

Clueless, actually I was thinking of others when I wrote the "speakers" line....that's why I had said "posts".... Your balance seems to be fine, however mine is always in flux!
Best, Jim

Kraz, now you're in the treacherous realm of matching components with sonic signatures. At their price points, the Bryston and the Rotel have been well reviewed and praised by people here. If you like the sound of the Bryston, however, there is a less expensive 3bST (I doubt seriously you'd miss the little bit of extra power- tho sonically they may be more different than I assume) and a more expensive Rotel cd payer, the 991. From what I have read, the 991 is worth the extra couple of hundred bucks over the 771. There are other good choices at the same general price point, e.g., the Musical Fidelity A3.

I would not skimp on the cd player. Less money in the amp and more in the cd player is usually safer.

W/re the speakers, I hope you can get a good deal. Retail's pretty high. (I like them better than the B&W's too, so imo you're on the right track - but others would disagree, I'm sure). If you have the time, try to listen to some of the other suggestions above, e.g., Spendors, Vandersteens. I do not have either of them, but I think you'll like them too.

In addition to accurate (or pleasing if you prefer) tonality, listen to how well the speakers do at imaging (three-dimensional solid performers in real space), soundstaging (depth and width and placement of the performers in an acoustic environment), and dynamics (responses to large and tiny changes in amplitude - realistic? clean?).

Here's a suggestion: start another thread or two. Ask people in one to recommend a $5,000 system. You'd get all sorts of real world examples. In the other, if you're set on those speakers, or choose different speakers, ask people who have them what they use for amplifiers and cd player.

Take your time and have fun.

Paul

My suggestion is to follow Paul's suggestion.

Sincerely, I remain