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Speakers The single most critical component

I know we've been over this Q hundreds of X's over the past 20 years here on audion, You can find dozen of topics dealing with this Q <which is the ,,,,most important component...>>
well time for yet 1 more topic dealing with this,, perhaps unanswered, un-resolved issue.
I'm bringing up the old hachet due to my recent experience acutally hearinga FR in my system. 
Let me tell you, there is not even 1 traditional/conventioanl/xover design <The Boxed Type>> in the world that could convince me  , there is something that will beat out FR (caveat, FR requires  some sort of high sens =sensitivity, tweeter)  in  the Boxy world of speakers.
That is to say, FR + Compression Horn is the future of 21st Century high fidelity. 
One lab has already brought us these ~~~SHF~~~ aka SuperHighFidelity  single drivers. 
The code word here is ~~SHF~~~ which can not never be employed when describing xover/trad/conventioanl style  aka The Box designs. db level under 91 are _<<IN-EFFICIENT>> , = dysfunctional, out dated, old school , = Dinasaurs. 
For amps, I only consider tube amps (PP and SET) as ~~SHF~~~ I can not include ss amps in this topic. 
IMHO all well made tube amps sound very close,
 a  kt88 in brand X will sound  close to brand Y. 
So amplification takes a  distant 2nd place in critical component.  No need to break the bank buying amp A vs  a  lower priced kt88 amp B
CD players, nearly all  tube DAC's , tube cdp-ers sound  close. No need to braek the bank over X vs Y.
My Jadis DAC is  only miniscule gain over the Shanling,
 the Shanling
only a  miniscule gain over the Cayin CD17. 
Now as for  best source  , phonograph is the ideal playback medium vs cds. 
I have some LP's now , but my main collection are classical cds, most not on LP version. Cables , I did note some gains employing silver/copper wiring throughout my entire system including inside the Defy.
Tweak worthy.
New Mundorf caps in all componets, tweak worthy. 
Yet the main central component remaisn the speakers.
Here is where  the entire audio resolution either rises to Nirvana or falls to <<distortion/muddy waters,/pollution/anti-fidelity  voicing  issues.
Your system's fidelity is ultimately dependent on what speaker  you have chosen to employ.
Forget all you've learned over the years, 
The new mantra is <,The speaker is key component>
All else is just extra tweaks/nuances. 
To sum up, a  ~~SHF~~ driver will match even the top of line Wilson weighing in at hundreds of lbs priced $$$$$$$ overa single FR driver. 
FR beats out any/all xover box design speakers. Mostly due to that key specification ~~db level~~~ which is everything in speaker design and thus in resolution/fidelity. 

mozartfan
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Every thing begins at the beginning; when you read a sentence, do you start at the period and go backwards? If vinyl, the signal begins at the cartridge, therefore it’s the most important, and from there on down the line until the signal leaves the speaker as music. That makes the speaker the least important.


I.... what? It is the first word, therefore the most important, we have read it, yet we know nothing.

I love.... okay, but again, what? Dang. Two words, still nothing.

I love music.... now we’re getting somewhere! So the last word is the most important!

I love music but .... wait, what?!

I love music but not right now I’m trying to write. Oh, now I get it! ALL the words matter. AND the order they are in. AND the context! No one single part any more or less important than any other.



mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,195 posts
 
East is East, and West is West, as the saying goes, and never the twain shall meet, and so it is with equipment lovers and music lovers.
Why not trying something  more sophisticated than left and right or black and white?

Why not trying to look for music lovers who cherish the equipment also, or to some  music lovers who without money succeed to reach real audiophile sound experience with low cost means and science?

And after discovering that there exist 4 categories why not exploring the rest of the audio world?

In the music lover side, by the way, do you goes on distinguishing rock lovers and classical music lovers?

If you do, remember that there exist group of people who like the 2 kind of music and this is a third category to add also....

i am myself in my own unique category with only one member....

I dont give a dam about equipment, i prefer to control my environment and the acoustica of the room at NO COST...

I like very peculiar musicians and composers and not so much all  the others....

I listen to gong music....

I refuse membership....

I also try to keep the world out of the binary traps categories game.....


I apologize if my post may seems rude....

I dont like much binary thinking......


millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
i am myself in my own unique category with only one member....

Not so fast, mahgister, I too have only one member.  
Used to be taken for granted. But nowadays....
phusis's avatar
phusis
1,220 posts
 
A lot of things matter, but not all equally - I’d say that goes without saying, or it should. Implementation on the other hand is wholly important. To say speakers are the least important because they’re at the end of the signal chain is just rubbish. They are, together with the acoustic environment they inhabit, by far the most signature imparting element of all. With limited funds selective $50 DAC’s of today are not the sonic bottleneck to point your finger at, nor are cheap pro amps coupled actively or low cost cables in this context. The speakers and the acoustics however are, how they’re positioned and the way their digital XO is configured. But who wants to tell their audiophile friends they have $50 DAC’s, cheap pro amps, DSP units for active XO and, preferably, high efficiency horn-loaded pro segment speakers, DIY or not? The ones that don’t care about the typical audiophile narrative and are instead willing to invest their time where it matters the most - without being brand, segment or price numbed. Implementation is key, and letting physics have their way.
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 

If we are talking about ultimate audio,(ultimate for my pocketbook) and speaking of order of importance: the cartridge would be first, followed by TT, followed by phono pre, followed by preamp, followed by power amp, and last the speakers.

The speakers will display whatever the preceding components present to them. The speakers are followers, not leaders, therefore, out of that batch of components, they are the least important.

In terms of expense, I would like for the cartridge, TT, and phono-pre to be as much as I could squeeze out, hopefully rated Class A or B by Stereophile, no lower than Class B (that's my frame of reference) same for pre-amp and power-amp. Some of us have unlimited budgets, I don't, and since speakers are suppose to follow the leaders, that's where I go with a good pair of neutral speaker, not the most expensive. In my scheme of things, speakers come in last relative to expensive components.
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