How much does power amplifier really matter comparing to other hi-fi components?


What is the best ratio (out of a total of 100%) in terms of money to put in a high-end hi-fi set containing:
1. CD player/DAC, 2. Pre-amp, 3. Power-amp, 4. speakers.
(25% will be assigned to each if the 4 parts are equal).
Can we take this as a reference to distribute the budget when buying power-amp?

Looking forward to learning experiences and technical information from audiophiles including hi-fi dealers.
cclee2022
This guy trying look for good advices and you send him out like drunk girl looking for quite place to sleep a frat house. but it not your fault because op give very little information.
take money you pay for speaker- Raidho and how much you have leftover. That the question is what do you have after purchase the Raidho? That good speaker I have that in workshop system I just cover that tweeter when use machine because ribbon no like dust.
It is a system and the system will only be as good as the weakest link. You can have the best amp but a bad pre-amp and the pre-amp will not let the amp shine. I my self would consider the pre-amp a little more important than the amp. If you have a budget and have to compromise some where in the system chain the pre-amp would be my last to compromise.
I forgot to mention with amplification ,never skimp on quality- power for on transients dynamic range on peaks can be 10 x 
the power in milliseconds and your speakers will dictate the efficiency and what’s required ,balance,quality,and quantity of necessary power . I always look at thepower supplies 
and capacitor reserves on any products , for tubes most important 
theQuality of chokes and powersupplies , and ample size,
in Solid state ,my Coda for example has a potted 3 kva transformer which is Huge ,and over 80k in capacitance , and over 120 amps short term on demand current ,  that’s why it’s important to see the quality and exactly what’s under the hood , just keep this in mind ,and digital at least 2 linear power supplies ,which my M3 Bricasti dac streamer has, 3 even better ,like on their M1,m21 
two good size linear power supplies is ample and my streamer board is included ,with ample filtering and low noise.
Assuming a budget of $10K-$15K, I might put nearly everything into a pair of JansZen Valentina A8 active speakers. Plus as little as $550 for a Bluesound Node (the source) and < $100 for cables.  Then trade up from the Node later (to Bryston/Cambridge Edge/Exasound).  That's assuming I lived within reasonable driving distance of the JansZen shop in Ohio (otherwise, I'd be reluctant to put all my component eggs into their basket).

But suppose a $5K budget instead, as a more reasonable entry point for a "high end" clean slate system. Assume we're going for digital not vinyl. Then very roughly:
1. 60% for speakers (because they make a bigger difference than anything else and are a little harder to trade up due to size/weight);
2. ~10% for a streamer/DAC (such as the Bluesound Node);
3. 30% for an integrated amp (maybe Peachtree or Cambridge Audio);
4. very little on cables (Bluejeans Cable for speaker wire; for everything else, just use what comes in the boxes with your components for now.)

For half that budget, you could build around a pair of KEF LS50 active speakers ~$1250) plus < $1K for everything else, with change back.


As between pre- and power-amp, it's really a question of what kind of sound you like (warm, analytical, bassy, slightly rounded edges, etc.) and then carefully matching components, within your budget, to get that sound. You can combine a relatively expensive power amp that has a sound you like with a passive or very clean active power amp that is not very expensive. Or, you can spend more on a pre-amp that gives you the sound you like and less on a power amp that adds nothing but power to the sound. Personally, I'd rather have a pre-amp determining the sound and a very neutral power amp. These days I run a Parasound JC2 preamp ($4500 when not on sale) with a pair of VTV Purifi 1ET400A mono blocks (about $2000). Some folks prefer combining tube or hybrid preamps with solid state power amps. But instead of adding the distortion of tubes, I've just ordered a Schiit Lokius tone controller ($300), which allows me to tailor the sound to the peculiarities of specific recordings.