Paradigm Persona series

Agree with the "pick speakers first" advice. So much more variability with speakers and resulting in so much greater sound presentation differences with speakers versus anything else.

It takes a long time to do it right because you need to listen to a lot of different speakers, narrow it down to a couple, and then ideally listen to those couple on different styles of amplifier (tubes, solid state, hybrid, separates vs integrated) - not necessarily specific brands of amplification at this point (unless you have tons of time), styles is good enough to pick the speakers.

Once you pick the speakers, then dive into the amplification revisiting types and specific brands. By then hopefully you’ve got the speakers in-house, and easier to bring home a couple of amps to demo than transporting speakers (which I guess was already mentioned just agreeing).

All that said, often plays out differently in real life, especially if you don’t have unlimited resources to make all purchases at once. In my case, I got an unexpected fantastic deal on an integrated amp that was so much better than I could have expected for price range I knew I’d be in that I acquired integrated amp first. Although I did get to extensively hear a 1.5 hr demo of the amp with the eventual speakers that I’d end up getting before purchasing the amp, and even then I knew those speakers would probably be the ones (had probably heard 10 speakers by that point), though still ended up doing months of demo’ing of at least a dozen further speakers above and below in cost to cement the speaker choice.

Bottom line is that it's still all a system and needs to be chosen as a system.  Regardless if you chose a speaker or source first, you need to set a legit budget and figure out where to spend it.  

I have spent a lot of time with a few high end manufacturers recently and they all said the same thing.  A good line of speakers will scale.  Way too many people purchase a speaker that is one above what they probably need and don't have the budget for the better source which is where it all starts.  Preamp is next in the electronics jungle and then amp.  

Begin with the most you can afford and then end with the best your budget will allow, but make sure you have enough for a great pre and then amp.  

If you like Vandersteen, Magico, Wilson, B&W, ML, Maggies or whatever, then go with that line, but if you are going to spend a lot more on one part of the chain, do it at the source is what most are saying.  Most folks don't get to hear the lower price in the line with better source and maybe even a step up in electronics (over what they would be left to afford if they buy the next speaker up in a line).

AT, I agree with your speaker thoughts for the most part.  That said, I was at a dealer last week who had Wilson Alexia's in a small bedroom and they sounded incredible.  Overkill?  Of course, but with the door open it didn't even have a standing wave problem.  Had a pair of large ML's in another bedroom and I was shocked at how good it sounded.  It just proved that you can get great sound with varying size speakers in most listening rooms if you set them up properly.  He did it to prove a point.  

Good thread. 

@audiotroy @kren0006 Thank you for your detailed responses. I appreciate them.

However, I still don’t find (in your posts) convincing rationale that points to and informs the necessity and importance (and criticality) of speaker first over amplification, or any other major component, for that matter.

I understand that the majority of audiophiles fall into (practice) the speaker first camp, but so far (based on the above posts) it seems more about comfort level, familiarity, history and preference rather than specific deal breakers should one choose not to go with a speaker first approach.

Audiotroy’s point on the hassle factor relating to speaker size (unpacking/repacking, movement, positioning, shipping costs, etc.) is certainly a factor, though one focused on convenience (and not a disqualifier).

I think the point about cubic feet, and room acoustics is valid and waf. But I think if somebody’s in deep with a mark levinson or any other ‘premium ‘ brand i would definitely avoid starting over. Thats where audiotroy just plows straight ahead, they talk like the average audiophile has unlimited funds and to that logic everything else they say makes perfect sense. Why they preach it so furiously on a used gear forum is probably why they get a bit of attitude from time to time.