Cost break down of hifi system


Hello, just curious on what you guys recommend for the cost breakdown of a hifi system ? I have heard a lot about 15%-20% for cables and roughly 30% on speakers. Right now I am in the middle of building my new system. I currently have pass labs xp-12 demo model and an x250.8 NIB from Reno Hifi. I got a hell of a deal at $13500 for both. I also got a very light demo pair of Dynaudio contour 60i for 25% off. Based off what I have given, could you guys give me a breakdown on what I should spend on source and cables ? I was leaning at the Cardas cyngus cables. For dacs I was looking at the all in one lumin t3 or an aurender n200 with the chord qutest dac. I am also debating which audioquest niagra to get, the 1200 or 3000 ? Seems the me the 1200 does everything.  I’m open to suggestions so please tell me if I am off track. I wanna get it right the first time. 

shtr74sims

@kota1 

Thank you. I do have Rockwool in the ceiling joists and all walls. The ceiling also has 2 layers of 1/4 inch pegboard and 2inch rigid fiberglass. The walls behind the speakers just have 1/4 inch pegboard on the studs. The other three walls have pegboard and one layer of 2 inch rigid. My room would be considered heavily damped with few reflections so no diffusers. I’m mostly hearing the direct sound from the speakers. Jeff said no additional panels would be necessary and he was correct. I’m very happy with the performance overall. 

@hilde45 -- You are not the first person I consider sensible who has found that changing cables was an improvement.

Since now my (balanced) interconnects are 7 m long and the speaker cables 50 cm, it is too expensive to try many different ICs, and the few times I’ve swapped speaker cables, it has not made a noticeable difference.

In the past, I tried other (fancy) cables, and though they sounded different, it wasn’t always clear that the difference was an improvement.

Being retired now, I have to be prudent. It’s a blessing that I haven’t heard significant returns from what might be a significant cash sink.

@kota1 

Building the room was a lot of work but well worth it. Happy listening!

 

Ron 

My two cents, based upon my finally paying attention, recently, to cabling on my 3 systems: 

1) Though my experience tells me cables can make a significant difference, just the thought of having to experiment with multiple different cables sucks the life out of me.  I am therefore willing to rely on reviews, reputation and word-of-mouth (Audiogon?) to make my decisions.

2) The amount I am willing to spend on cables should be correlated with the amount I spend on cables.

3) I hate the idea of buying cables from a company whose “flagship” products are multiples of what I’m willing to spend.  I’d like to feel like whatever product I choose is at or near the top of that company’s product line, no matter how little I spend.

With those principles, I’ve made the following decisions over the last several months:

1) Budget System (Triode Corp integrated amp, Acoustic Zen Adagio Jr. speakers, Okto DAC/streamer, Pro-ject turntable) - QED interconnects and speaker cables, with Anticables power cords.

2) Vintage(y) System (Leben integrated amp and phono pre, restored/modified Altec Santiagos, restored/modified Thorens TD-124) - Triode Wire Labs interconnects, speaker cables, and power cords.

3) Big Rig (Synthesis integrated amp and phono pre, Audio Note AN-Es, Gold Note DAC/streamer, restored/modified Garrard 401) - Audio Note Lexus speaker cable, Straightwire power cords, interconnects TBD (will be experimenting with Triode Wire Labs)

Btw, for my vintage system, I too was considering the Cardas Clear Cygnus line, but I experienced profound sticker shock at what the entire loom would cost.  Hence my decision to go with Triode Wire Labs, for a savings of close to $2000!!