Poll: Most impactful component

Really great discussion and diversity in views. Sadly this really adds to my confusion. I can't decide! I'm fairly new to the hobby. All this information is great.

This hobby is very personal. Then why do we rely on equipment reviews and base our buying decisions on other's opinions? Every system is different. It must take obsessive iterations in YOUR room and YOUR system to answer this question. That's the lesson I've learned so far. Thanks.

I think it’s fair to say most people consider speakers to be the single most important link in a system, I won’t disagree with that assessment.  Over the past year or two I have upgraded nearly every component in my system and the one that made the single biggest improvement excluding speakers was the phono cartridge.  Obviously this only applies to people who play vinyl.

Speakers, easily.

Speakers 1st. Amp 2nd

Speakers 1st. Amp 2nd