Speakers are the first piece of the puzzle

thank you all.


Sources. It starts there.

Amps and speakrs are more of necessity than a starting point, if indeed the notion its all about signal integrity and purity, amounts to anything..

The elements that make up the rig are all malleable. Changing. Especially if it is the ‘very first’ outfit.

There is no denying an amp and its relationship to the speaker is key. I suppose it could be argued everything else, as vital as it may be are just the supporting cast.

With experience I can readily see how one could alter or begin anew, picking out loudspeakers as the foremost purchase.

Daring to pursue niche speakers seems to carry even more perils, precautions, or limitations. similarly, some amplifiers warrant the same skill set as speakers.

Even though speakers are the main attraction when folks ask to look at your system, they’ll take in the loudspeakers first. Everytime. Why not? They’re usually prettier. Bigger. Flashier. And in inescapable.

Forgoeing the room itself for a moment, the soul of music comes from the power and source, if speakers are in fact doing their jobs properly, not the other way around. That essence has to be provided to them, they can’t manufacture it.

I’ll probably never see the why of speakers first all the time as THE better approach.

The crucial concept here is that of masking. The component in the chain with the greatest imperfections will mask the imperfections of the component with the least imperfections. Hence, focus on the component with the greatest distortion, the largest deviations from a flat frequency response, or the greatest noise.

The crucial concept here is that of the room & speakers.  They will always have the greatest distortion, the largest deviations from a flat frequency response.

Everything prior to speakers have been R&D'd to the point where they can all sound good which makes it more of a matter of taste. Speakers, being the largest generators of distortion, require you to like their sound signature, or house sound, as it's known. 

A well regarded speaker builder told me that the source and speakers are most important, with the nod going to the speakers. Amps were his least concern as long as they were fast. 

All the best,
Nonoise

Jim, I have found after many years of attempting to get a system I could live with in my retirement, I had to make some changes. Much of this mindset was an undying curiosity regarding tube amplification. To find out, a speaker change was necessary. I sold my beautiful Dynaudio Contour 5.4's, and since buying anything new was out of the question, I opted to purchase, on Ebay UK, a pair of vintage Tannoy HPD 315 drivers w/crossovers. (This was a return to Tannoys, I had my first pair of 12" Monitor Golds in 1971, and due to a major lifestyle change, away went the Tannoys in 1988). 

I had a pair of 150 liter bass-reflex enclosures made, that was two layers of MDF laminated, for a net of 1 7/8', with a weight of 192 lbs. each. To my surprise, they have worked out well with either my SET 300B amp. or my kit-built Class D Audio (running two modules bridged for 500 Wpc) The Tannoys sound beautiful on either one. By this time I had already established a pretty good base of source components, making upgrades as necessary due to attrition (failure from age related issues).

So for me, it's been speakers first, to match speakers/amplifier, and then to upgrade source components as the need arises, until I've arrived at the destination that most pleases me. I have no desire to make any changes now, aside from those necessary from equipment failure.

It's an extremely comfortable place to be, listening causes absolutely no angst, just day after day of enjoyment. I hope everyone can reach this lofty goal.

Best regards,
Dan. .