Which is the most important part of a stereo system?

I'm thinking of picking up this TT First!

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-bIi2JMnJMvh/p_133SL1210B/Technics-SL-1210GR.html?XVINQ=GLX&awkw=812097800294&awat=pla&awnw=g&awcr=380681032017&awdv=c&awug=9004477&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_PTgksS_5wIVGYiGCh1ETAyrEAQYASABEgKQLfD_BwE

Put your speakers 3' apart and sit as close to them as you can.

The difference between that and what you hear normally is your room.

Honestly,  it is YOU.  Everything else is secondary.

All of appreciating hi fidelity is entirely subjective regardless of equipment.  For example,  I have auditioned Focal loudspeakers on many different occasions and...I just don't like 'em.The last time I was able to listen to them was at the former location of Stereo Exchange in NYC.  Another gent and myself were standing there listening to the same music and we had very different opinions. He loved them,  I didn't. The reviews were stellar,  the manufacturer is very highly regarded in the biz.  The other gent parted with $17,000.  I bought an Astell & Kern portable player.

An earlier post here mentioned the room - and that is spot-on.  Yes,  experimenting with different amps and preamps and whatnot is fun - and expensive - but moving things around a little or a lot has substantial effect on everything.

I employ what Jim Thiel of Thiel Audio once suggested as a method of sussing things out - the "other room" application.  Do what you will to your setup,  then move into an adjacent room and see how things sound.  It works!

Which is the most important part of a stereo system?

Please see https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 and read the description wherein it says: "The System is built around the philosophy that everything matters. Everything either contributes or detracts, and no one single component is any more or less important than any other."

But hey, don't take my word for it. Check it out and see for yourself. Just try and play your system without a power cord. See how it sounds without power. Or speaker cables. Measure the sound output without speakers, without source. Pretty sure you will find they all measure the same: zero. 

Which is what you will have if you follow the advice to put all your money into a source- or speakers, or any other component for that matter. They are all equally important. They all need to be good. 

Which is not to say expensive. We all have our budgets. Within which everything should perform very nearly equally well. No weak links. If, and its a very important if, sound quality really is what you want.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled misinformation.

Thanks guys!

Can you recommend a good turntable in the $1800 range and an preamp and amp with a built in DAC in the $4800 range?

TIA