How do you determine how much to spend on speakers

I have an Integra 50.1 receiver with Focal 836v speaker and last Monday I listened to a Focal 807v bookshelf speaker that had significantly better clarity in the sound compared to my "better" speakers. The difference was the 807v speakers were being driven by a Pathos Inpol2 (I believe). It made me think that for certain music types I might prefer the cost of the bookshelf compared to my floorstanders so that I could put more of the budget towards a better amplifier. Jazz comes to mind.

I would suggest listening to some of the less expensive speakers on really high quality amplifiers and see if at their best they give you the sound you are looking for.

Make that the Pathos Logos.

The point here is to select stuff that is of a uniform quality especially if you are on a budget. You can do extremely well on so called budget items. The majority of problems occur with the ROOM and NOT the equipment. I suggest the OPPO players for CD and SACD. An integrated amp from NAD and Kimble Hero interconnects. Speaker wire should be Spitz anti- cable and whatever is left should be spent on the speakers. If you have some money to spare I would try and deaden the listening room.

Find the best sounding speakers you can, find a way to talk whoever owns them down to what you can scrape together. Then figure out what made them sound so good to you ask your self is this what I want to go with my speakers and can I in the near future buy this amp cables front end or is what I have close to or as good as what I heard. When at a dealers shop make notes of what the speakers you like are being driven by cables amps front end and anything in the signal path also note room size treatments tweeks it all counts the closer it is to what you have the better the chance it will sound that way for you at home. That is if you can't do a home demo. In my case I spend more on turntables and speakers as I find I keep them longer than cables or amps but that is just my way. Try and remember this is a hobby not the search for the holy grail have some fun with it. As to the how much to spend "I will go all in with all the cash I can lay hands on if I find a speaker I want" Martin logan CLX this last time I even bought the amp cables that were driving them.

I actually think that it is a non-linear function where more you spend on the system on aggregate, less critical it becomes as to what percent of your total budget should be spent on the speakers. Put another way, if someone's budget is $3000 for the whole system, I would say, spend at least 2/3rds on the speakers. If your budget is $8000, then it is a totally different relationship and it will depend more on your priorities (efficiency, brightness, dynamic drive, low-end, mid-range, resolution, even details like off-axis response).
My two cents.