Component percentages (Excluding cables)


My 2.1ch system today would cost, street price, around $20,000 (if New). It cost only a fraction of that in reality, just putting it into context.

As I've arbitraged my way up the audio food chain, my focus on certain components has changed, as their overall impact on my system changes at different price-performance levels. At current street prices my system would breakdown like this :

Integrated: 25%
Streaming DAC: 20%
Speakers: 20%
Sub: 5%
Secondary sources, cables, shelves, isolation, etc.: 30%

Purely from a % view, my speakers and sub need upgrading (the sub was for my HT system but I moved it into the 2ch room temporarily). 

I like the idea of investing 50% into speakers and 50% into everything else, but I'd include a sub with that (only one, can't go dual).

Do any of you try to balance your system using a % allocation like this? If so, have you found a formula that works well for you? I find it really helpful, because I'm not assigning a dollar value to anything, just setting guidelines for overall investment balance.

Thanks in advance! 
wassaicwill
millercarbon, thank you for such a thoughtful and detailed reply. You really gave me a lot to think about, and I understand where you're coming from. Thanks again.
Thanks hilde. Bonus question: as you've moved up the food chain, what changes to your system do you think would have the greatest impact on its current state? For example as I got into better gear, I noticed diminishing returns from my DAC choices, and a much greater return from having a better preamp stage. Or, I found that even good class D amps, which were the stars of my system for a while, were imparting a sameness to the output when I upgraded speakers, which went away when I invested in better class AB. This sort of goes back to Miller's point, that there might not be a specific ratio per se. I guess looking at my ratios helps me at least have a rough road map for where I might be able to unlock greater performance, even if it's not a perfect system.

Bottom line : I'm an audiophile, and it's wonderful. 
@Wassaicwill

My streamer is the weakest link but I'm reluctant to do much there, yet.

My DAC, the Orchid MHDT has a nice Tesla tube in it and is R2R design. I guess it could be improved upon, but it seems like it will hold me for a while.

The next thing I'll probably do is improve the output tubes in my Quicksilver Mono 60 amp. The tubes in there are JJKT88's (about $48 each) but there are others with a different sound signature I might like to try.

Down the road, I'd likely add another sub. I have one now.

Also: acoustic analyses of my listening space to address some reflections and nulls/peaks.