Audiophile Priorities and Recent Topics

So the thread was created to foster a discussion of what are your highest priorities and what role (and relative importance) do areas like cables, footers, and fuses have in your system?

these topics vastly overwhelm thread topics that clearly would have more influence to hifi audio sound such as discussions of the sonic characteristics of various amplifier topologies, the importance of simplifying the signal path, and identifying fantastic speaker/amplifier synergies, etc...

I just know my experience and I’d like to hear others. Our collective accounts could be really helpful to others.

Tons of people talking about how great their stuff sounds on Nobsound springs, or on Pods, or Podiums. QSA fuses, Stones, all kinds of things. You should try reading them.

Relevant internet definitions I found for “tweak” are mostly along the lines of,

“improve (a mechanism or system) by making fine adjustments to it”

and

“to adjust slightly; to fine-tune”

In the audio world, these definitions align with my belief that tweaks are the final efforts one makes to optimize the sound of a system. They may be system dependent (i.e., some tweaks may work best with specific gear) or they may be universal in that certain tweaks may improve the sound of most or all systems. For example, many here have amp stands or isolation platforms that have survived multiple changes of the equipment supported on them, and they continue to improve the sound of the owner's system. 

To the OP’s question, IMO, for a given room, the selected components and speakers determine the basic sound of a system while tweaks can be implemented to remove minor deficiencies and/or to enhance the sonic qualities already being delivered by the existing system components. I believe cables may have a bit more influence than most other tweaks, but I certainly do not believe the impact of a cable on system sonics is anywhere near that of a component or speaker.  IME, tweaks and cables are to a system what the sweeper is to the curler…..the sweeper can help but the stone still needs to be travelling in the right general direction at the right speed.

I believe the polarization seen in these threads mostly results from the vast chasm between the magnitude of changes/improvements being reported by some as a result of adding a tweak compared to the insistence by others that a certain tweak (or cable) can’t possibly affect the sound of a system. It isn’t that people don’t hear changes between components, speakers, cables, or tweaks because most here report that they do.   It’s the magnitude of the difference between the two sides of the argument coupled with the increasingly higher prices being charged for this stuff that apparently neither side can live with. Although I have an opinion, I try to listen and judge for myself, vote with my own wallet, and let others do the same.