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A stupid question for which there's no sensible answer.

I know, I know. At least I've labeled it properly.

Here goes: of the following elements of a system, how would you rank their influence on the sound? In other words, generally, which would someone want to upgrade or prioritize, and in what order,  if all of the following pieces were inferior to an amp/preamp and speakers they were happy with? Power cables, connector cables. speaker cables. streaming source, music source, dac (I vote for this one as #1), room treatment, speaker placement, type of chair, earwax quotient, what you ate for lunch, etc.

I hereby give my permission for everyone to tell me this is an idiotic question since the real answer is: it depends. (But I did put a "generally" in there somewhere). Anyway, I prefer that we debate this based on what we've experienced when we've tinkered. So I guess I'm really interested in anecdotes.

128x128m669326
tanglewood
43 posts
 
1. DAC
2. Room treatments/room itself
3. type of chair
williewonka
3,075 posts
 
  1. speaker cables
  2. interconnects
  3. power cables
  4. power distribution box
  5. speakers
  6. amp 
  7. phono
  8. turntable 
  9. cartridge
  10. digital source
  11. room treatments

hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,974 posts
 
@larry The first guy to respond was most definitely not doing that. What is your opinion on the question? 
rbstehno
1,412 posts
 
1) the room
2) system synergy. 3) good quality components. Buy the best sounding components you can afford.

jrw1971
62 posts
 
I may have missed it, but I don’t think anyone has mentioned what I would consider the easiest, cheapest thing OP should do: try Roon or Audirvana.  Running a signal direct from a Mac to a DAC means the Mac’s internal audio "enhancers" are mucking with the output before it leaves the computer chassis.  It’s a well-known issue.  Audirvana, Roon, and other applications bypass this and give you a proper signal for your DAC, not some "lowest common denominator" signal designed for all possible headphones, devices, etc.  Using the Mac’s USB output does not avoid this.  Sign up for a free trial run; it will sound like you got a new DAC.  (Paul McGowan of PS Audio has a few videos on this; the library of those is on the PS Audio website.  But the gist is: see above).  
Lots of other good ideas here as well.  But me thinks your DAC is getting a garbage feed.  I’d start there.  And, of the software options, I really like Roon.  If you doubt the premise, try a CD from a decent CD player/transport, run through the DAC, and compare the same track to a 16/44 file from your Mac to the same DAC.  If I’m right, the CD will crush the file.  If I’m wrong, they will sound more or less the same.  I’ve been wrong before ... Just don’t use your Mac as the CD player in this experiment! 
Disclosure statement: No affiliations with any audio companies, dealers, distributors, PC manufacturers, magazines, influencers, YouTubers, TikTok-ers, software companies, or labels.  Just a hopeless gearhead who can’t sleep. 
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