High End System Building. How important is the matching, cabling and room? Thoughts ?

I would disagree with you about how much the room affects the sound. It affects it some but it’s not gonna make average equipment compete with the best of the best. Sorry that’s as direct as I can be.

 

I am tired by your misreading but i thank you for your invitation to post...

You seems a very good person to me then ... I want that to be clear...

Now i will clarify something you MISREAD about my experience...

No room acoustic will correct a bad design or compensate for it or replace gear choices...

IS IT CLEAR? ...

But on the other hand No high end speakers and system can perform at their PEAK POTENTIAL in a bad room ...

Is it clear ?

And any low cost system will improve a lot with room acoustic controls BUT WILL NOT EXCEED THE POTENTIAL OF A HIGH END SYSTEM for sure ...

Is it clear ?

Now we can have a low cost systen that give a relatively good " audiophile"  experience if we work with not only acoustic but with electrical noise floor control and vibration/resonancve control...

I call it the minimal acoustical satisfaction threshold ...

Is it clear ?

Then in no way a low cost system giving a minimal acoustical satisfaction threshold because of acoustic and electrical and mechanical control well done, in no way such system will rival some very high end system... The only exception may be high end system in bad room ...

is it clear ?

 

In a word claiming as you do that high end system exist and are better than low cost one , is a common place fact known by everyone even me ... What i said dont contradict that... But you dont seems to understand what i said ...

Psychoacoustics rule the gear not the price tag...

 

 

I thank you even if we differ because you are a gentleman ...

My deepest respect ...

 

 

@mahgister thanks for the clarification.  Respect my friend. 

The room matters a lot, do everything you can afford.

Yet the next step is most important .... do not buy anything unless

a. You NEED it. How do I know? Because you are BOTHERED and can NAME the ISSUE you wish to SOLVE

b. You have done an A/B in your space and you PREFER the new thing, FOR SURE.

 

 

From here it’s never ending. Hopefully you will go many years with a set up, but you may not. When you have amazing Speakers, Amps, Cables, DA etc ... then you might in time be bothered and fine tune it with AC cables perhaps, Fuses perhaps, Caps and Resistors perhaps.

The better the system the more obvious is any small change.

Small gains are often costly ... that’s the reality. Do you need them? See #1

 

A great thing can be costly or not.  A bad thing can be costly too.

 

Enjoy the Process. For the Audiophile the system is the creativity, the instrument.

@patrickcarey 

"best advice I can see on your audiophile journey is to try some stuff make sure there are returns or at the very least if you buy it used that you'll be able to flip it and sell it to someone else if it doesn't work for you so you're not risking a ton of money. "

With an unexpected divorce, followed by an unexpected retirement and a suddenly "fixed" income, I use the same methodology. The key is having the patience to put the time in to research and locate what you want. And to get it for a price that allows you to flip it if need be.That being said, if I am sure about something, I don't mind buying new.

@tony1954, @ghdprentice

Glad to read you have a similar experience.  Your methodologies are good.  Great sound is certainly a measure of personal taste, and ongoing tuning over time. 

Everything is a component. All the interconnects and hardware as well as room acoustics. 

I'll be digging into some UNobtrusive acoustic treatments in my future.  Might have to move to have a dedicated sound room :)