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

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.

When I upgrade the cartridge, better sound comes out of the speaker. When I upgrade the phono, better sound comes out of the speaker. When I upgrade the pre-amp, better sound comes out of the speaker. I've had the same speakers since 2000, but they keep sounding better, maybe I got magical speakers?
As someone who has been perpetually in the upgrade sickness.. I can tell you that no matter  how great your components are, it’s all for not if you have crap speakers!
the speakers deliver the truth! Therefore, the speakers are the key component, or the foundation for which all other components must pass through.

this is why I feel the speakers are the most important step in audio nervana.
this is why I feel the speakers are the most important step in audio nervana.
I know very well that my Mission Cyrus speakers are only "relatively" good speakers....In their price bracket even if they punch over...

Then why i dont want to upgrade my speakers ? even if i could....

Is this because my speakers branded name is the most important link ?

Not at all....

Total acoustic mechanical controls after a well done passive material treatment...

A Helmholtz mechanical equalizer and diffusers...

And some others tools i will not mention here....

Room acoustic rule ESPECIALLY in small room under 20 feet....

Room acoustic is the sleeping princess, anything else are only the seven working dwarves....


It is very important to know that science could overpower any marketing claim...

No speaker beat the room where they work...

But a controlled room can throw "relatively" any good speakers on the audiophile moon...

This is my experience resulting from my experiments.... Not from my "no limit" purchasing power and ability to boast about my branded name product of choice...

I paid 50 bucks my speakers used....😁😊 I can boast about that luck....

They will ashame most owner of better speakers here that dont know how to use acoustic.... They will not perhaps beat them but the margin of S.Q. between mine and some others relatively to price will awake some from market publicity to science: Acoustic.....

For sure anybody must buy some "relatively good" speakers first....

But it is of no avail in an average uncontrolled room... You will only live without ever knowing what your speakers are able to do in optimal environment...

Forget upgrade money, buy an acoustic book....

Or a biography of Helmholtz....  😊

@hubbman,

A nice summing up that could save someone an awful lot of time and money.

Whatever magic @mahgister has conjured up through optimum embedding of his system could only be more wondrous through better speakers than his Missions.

In my experience no other component offers a greater pound for pound range of performance than a pair of loudspeakers.

In fact the only one I found that came remotely close was turntables. Nowadays, I'm not even too sure of that. One good test would be to compare a Rega Planar 1 against the Planar 10.

On the other hand you cannot easily mistake a pair of Tannoy Westminster's for a pair of their entry level bookshelves.