Best Stereo Upgrade Value

A good point. The way you hear is critical.

Much like vision. Do you see the forest, the trees or the leaves?

Are you seeing the details, or missing the finer points?

Are you hearing the details, or missing the finer points?

I'm sure some will agree while others will be bemused.

It's like those who declare digital is 0/s and 1's. Totally superficial and oblivious of the details.

The single biggest improvement in my system was moving to planar magnetic speakers (Apogee Duetta IIs, and when those died, Magnepan 1.7i).

the topic is formulated incorrectly, since in many systems there may be a "black sheep and spoil the whole herd" ...

as a rule - the source is most important (the rest of the modern equipment after a certain price - works satisfactorily and is not so noticeable)

tonearm - cartridge - phono stage have made biggest improvements individually in that order for my system. But if I started out with an excellent source way back, it wouldn't be applicable.

So start with the best you can afford of each component, focusing on the source point through to the end point. A signal can not improve as it goes through the process. You can only get what is picked up by the stylus on the record. Unfortunately it only goes downhill from there, so you should start at the highest place possible.

And to quote a banished former contributor, "everything matters". Except tweaks that don't do anything, or worse yet, degrade the sound.

ODAM capacitors. If you have good equipment, these will turn your system into a great one. Use them as primary, or bypass capacitors and they are a game changer. Linlai E-6SN7's along with ODAM capacitors, if you use 6SN7s are amazing together.