BigKidz - that is great insight built on years of your valuable experience. I have been really fortunate to have the opportunity to have auditioned and owned some great gear and what what you have shared as your experience is very similar to mine. I have a much, much, much smaller sampling size I’m sure. I stream 99 % of the time for my 2 channel listening and if the source isn’t right, you won’t be able to tweak or fix with gear after the source. Get the source and speakers right, after that, the amplifier, the Pre can elevate the system. The Pre can be that last piece that wows you but you’ll never get to that moment if everything else isn’t in place. A bad, noisy Pre can really bring down your system or lack of synergy between your gear, I’ve had great Pre’s and Amps that aren’t great fits together so matching gear properly is important as well. Insight provided by seasoned audiophiles stating everything matters is so true, paying attention to power, good quality interconnects / speaker wire (they don’t need to be expensive), the often neglected room acoustics and or speaker placement are all pieces to the puzzle. Great insight, thanks for sharing.
