WHY DO PEOPLE FEEL THE NEED TO COMMENT ON CABLES AND EQUIPMENT THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD?

@kota1 

I wasnt calling you Nepoleon.😂

@calvinj

I do have an amp that will perform better in a bad room than 99% of the amps out there, its a Martin Logan amp (a speaker company I know) and its called the Forte. Martin Logans parent company is Anthem. It is selling for 60% off right now at $249. It includes ARC room correction and has a built in streamer AND a sub out. If you position the sub and the speakers well and then run ARC it is probably going to sound better than a $$$$ amp in the same room and I guarantee it will measure better. BTW OP, I actually own this amp and have listened to it since that is the topic of this thread:

https://www.martinlogan.com/en/product/forte

Don’t take my word for its chops, here is a review. I use this amp to power my passive rear surround speakers and from the first time I turned it on I was amazed that an amp this inexpensive and small made these speakers sound that good. It also has an RCA in so you can hook up a CDP or a TT:

Review:

"a small affordable unit that is almost too good to be true."

https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/amplifier/power-amplifier/martinlogan-forte-amp-review/

@nevada_matt 

Adding even a few well placed and sized panels increased my enjoyment of my current setup for far less than any $5000 power cable, $3000 usb cable, $10000 set of speaker wires or $500 fuse ever could. 

That is the most well kept secret in audio. I don't know who is at fault though. Dealers that profit from the upgrade cycle caused by bad acoustics or simply "audiophiles" that enjoy pulling the trigger on stuff you plug in but don't know what panels to buy or where to hang them.
 

@everyone I’m not negating the room plays a huge part in sound but I do believe in the high end gear if it’s really good. If you place high end well built and designed gear in a really great room and acoustic environment it sounds like heaven. I’m not going to negate the room especially the treated rooms at all but at the same time place high end gear in a really great environment if you have matched it properly and it is designed well you truly can hit it out the park. However all of us don’t have the perfect listening environments but a lot of us can still get great sound. 

@everyone I do get what you are saying about people not talking about how much the room plays a part. Just cause you spend a lot of money doesn’t mean you have a great system either. It is a lot of things. EQUIPMENT, ROOM, MATCHING, CABLING ETC. All of these things can play a part. Now I will say a better matched mid fi system can beat a hi end system if it’s matched properly and placed in the right environment. Some folks sell you stuff that doesn’t work well together just because that’s the brands they sell. I get that part too.