How do you determine how much to spend on speakers

In building a system. First you buy Speakers that asthetically and acoustically work well with your particular Listening Room. Then you buy an Amplifier well suited to effectively power those Speakers. Lastly you buy the best sounding source component that you can afford. Add-in some good inexpensive Cables, and your done. As far as what percentage to spend on a particular component is concerned, it doesn't matter, there is no formula, it's impossible to calculate, there are far too many variables. The Speakers are the only Component that need to fit a physical and acoustic criteria set by the listening room. There are no physical restrictions on the other components, so this is where I would start, and let the costs/budget play-out from there.

I'll chime in on the "garbage in, garbage out" side of things. Proportionally too little money on the source(s) and even amplification can lead to a kind of dead or ill-defined sound, even through the best of speakers- there's a kind of "musical integrity" lacking, is the best expressionistic means of putting it. I'd generally go roughly one-third for each stage in the chain, more for sources if you have a turntable and cd player- and I'd spend more on whichever source is more often used. No more than 10-15% on i-c's and spkr cables, perhaps more if power cords are also used.

The speakers are a choice that is left up to a persons own ear

For that matter, so are all other components. I'd add the "eye" as well as the ear.

In practical terms, however, the above statement indicates absolute precedence to the speakers: speakers are the ones coverting an electrical signal (that we do NOT hear) into sound pressure (that we DO hear).

I agree with this take on the statement above (even though it doesn't seem like the intended one:)).
In ABSOLUTE terms, you choose a speaker and then work upchain accordingly. In real life's relative terms, things aren't so simple: pbs such as, i.e. "how do you drive said spkr" come to mind.

Maybe a spkr+amp combo is the way to go! I for one would strongly urge in that direction.

With so many great sounding budget electronics and source components these days, I don't think the old "garbage in, garbage out" argument holds up as stongly as before. You have Naim, Arcam, NAD, DK, Musical Fidelity, etc making great sounding budget amps and cd players that take you 80-90 percent of the way there where the big equipment take you. I don't think the same can be said for a budget speakers compared to a high quality full range speaker, the budget speaker just won't have the range or ability to move enough air fast enough or efficiently enough to create a cohesive and convincing full range sound. My opinion is that the shortcoming of a budget speaker and the cohesive sound quality of well made full range speaker is easier to hear and is a big factor in the enjoyment of listening to reproduced music.

Hello,

I will only respond to the first part of your paragraph, when you say...'' I am just starting out in this HI-FI stuff ''

Here is my answer: RUN, RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN AND DON'T LOOK BACK !!!!

If you INSIST on spending 5K, here's a suggestion: ALL prices are ''AUDIOGON'' prices. Shop wisely and get mint for the price of rust.

AMP: 1K(or less)on a Naim Nait 5i integrated : INCREDIBLE for the money. All you need and more for this kind of budget.

Alternative choice: Arcam A 85. Nothing wrong with it - more power, more flexibility, and true usable tone controls.

Speakers: Polk LSi 15. (less than 1K) These are the most underated speakers on the planet. Forget about the Polk name not being ''audiophike enough''. Read up on them here (Audiogon) and on the web where there are many glowing reviews. I owned them once. Regret selling them too. ( And I once owned obscenely expense speakers in the past). Great overall performers, with refined sound in part due to the Ring Radiator tweeter used on some designs costing $$$$. Huge sound, extremely dynamic and lively. all you need, really.

Alternative choice: QUAD 22L. Much more body than a diminutive bookshelf, credible lows, and fit'N'finish worthy of 3 times the price gear. Good looking too.

CD Player: Shanling CDT-100 cd player. (around $ 1,000) Worth it's selling price on just sound. But of course there'es way more to this player as many of us know. Choice of tubed or solid state output, upsampling on the fly, headphone jack - and of course - a breathtaking visual centerpiece of your system - bathed in blue lights in a dimmed room.

Alternative digital choice: A good ( and less sexy )alternative would be the Denon 3910 universal player. Great sound, with killer DVD player thrown in for free.

Cables, (speaker and interconnects): Anti-cables by Paul Speltz: Very nice for the money. You could spend a lot more and get less. You probably cannot spend less and get more. No fuss, no big names, just great sound. Around $ 300.00 will get you speaker cables and two sets of interconnects.

So here it is

Naim 5i or Arcam A 85 = 900.00
Polks LSi 15 or Quad 22L = 900.00
Shanling T 100 or Denon 3910 = 1,100 (Shanling)
Cables from Paul = 300.00

If you shop wisely, you can get this nice (and it WILL be nice) system for less than $ 3,500

With the rest of the money, get $ 200 dollars woth of cd's (just to '' start the ball rolling'' with your system, and treat your significant other to a great evening out !

Your'e still $ 1,000.00 ahead...of your initial 5K. I doubt you can get better performance unless you spend quite a bit more. Then, maybe you will come to the conclusion that it is all you really need. Then forget about hi-fi and enjoy the music for awhile.

Hope you found this of some help!