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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.

m669326
williewonka
3,131 posts
 
@clearthinker - the OP asked...
how would you rank their influence on the sound?
So my question to you is - how would I know just how good a TT is IF the cables were less than excellent???

He did not ask which component or cable was the most important. If that were the case my response would have been very different

Personally I would put speakers before source, because without great speakers you are not getting the benefit of a good source

My cables have influenced the sound of my system much more than any component purchase.

Regards - Steve

m669326's avatar
m669326 OP
332 posts
 
Mapman: thanks for the link. There was some stuff in there I hadn't run into before.
For some reason, reading it raised an issue for me. At what point is a system/QS good enough? If tinkering is fun, I guess it doesn't matter.

But are we all hamster-wheeling Buddha's wheel of desire--continual striving based on a sense of deficit with the way things are? Can I fully enjoy listening to music if I feel I have an imperfect system? And when have I literally superceded my ears/brain ability to process? 
m669326's avatar
m669326 OP
332 posts
 
Reading my post, I can see that I'm a master of posing unanswerable/possibly pointless questions. Nonetheless, if anyone has pondered any of this, I'd be curious to hear his thoughts (are there women on the forum? There must be.).
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,964 posts
 
At what point is a system/QS good enough? If tinkering is fun, I guess it doesn’t matter.

I suppose the answer is its all a personal thing. Whatever turns one on.

Tinkering is fun. That said, not all decisions are created equal. The key is to make well informed decisions not based merely on hearsay.

The good new is with the internet all the info needed is out there here and elsewhere. One just need to be able to synthesis it properly. Not always an easy task. Having a solid base of technical knowledge to build on is the key to actual results. Everyone should do their homework!



m669326's avatar
m669326 OP
332 posts
 
I agree. On an informational level, an incredible amount of stuff is online somewhere, but that has its limitations.
More to discover