Order of importance and budget percentages

In my experience power cords 1st . 

I’d pick my loudspeaker first, then see what cable works well with it. I don’t believe in fixed percentage budgets, you buy what you need, no more no less.

For example if you bought Magnepan 30s you would have tons of money left over for the other gear. 

Once after I wrecked my Mustang my dad joked that I should just take the radiator cap and go find something to match.  I guess you can take a power cord and start building a system around it about the same way.

I spend every penny I can on components. I enjoy them. Once broken in and I know what they sound like… 600 to 1000 hours. Then I start thinking about upgrading cables and interconnects.

For one thing, you have to know what your new system sounds like… this takes time. Also, you can start accumulating funds in small amounts to start thinking about additional costs.

Typically… I’ll enjoy my new components for some months, then do some speaker and room changes. Then, I swap some cables or interconnects from what I have around. This helps me formulate an idea of how to fine tune the system. Then over a couple years or so I will replace/upgrade cables and interconnects to achieve maximum performance. Then I just listen to music for the next five or ten years until my next upgrade cycle.