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Poll: Most impactful component

Given all the technological advances over the years, audiophiles have very different perspectives on equipment.

This likely reopens an age old debate, but which component has the most potential to improve a stereo system? Or can it?

If you could upgrade one component to take your system to the next level which one would get the investment? Speakers? DAC? Pre? Source?

Or is this the holy grail that no one can achieve?

 

 

tee_dee
clearthinker's avatar
clearthinker
1,582 posts
 

Fuse connecting turntable, anyone?

thecarpathian's avatar
thecarpathian
4,496 posts
 

I would opine that the preamp is the brain of the system.

The synergy of all the gear together and the resultant sound is the soul.

ronboco
848 posts
 

@therandyman 

So the BACCH is a fancy room correction ? What exactly does it do for a price tag of over 50k? 

therandyman
35 posts
 

I bought BACCH4Mac, which cost about $7500, including a new Mac Mini computer with 16 GB Ram.  That includes a camera for head tracking.  A system without the head tracking is much less expensive.  It eliminates crosstalk between your ears.  The effect is that on well-recorded material, the soundstage is hugely widened and deepened.  For example, on a 1958 Sonny Stitt record of a jazz quartet, in my listening room the sax is in the kitchen and the drums are outside the house!  This is without adding any distortion.

waytoomuchstuff's avatar
waytoomuchstuff
1,134 posts
 

Most important component? 

The performance.

Everything else is just hardware/software.

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