Do you belong more to souce first or to speakers first school of thought ?

I go STRAIGHT from the recorded material I'm interested to listen to, then the rest of components.

I’ve always been in the source first camp.  

N

I prefer to advise edges first (speakers and source). But if I had to pick just one it would be speakers first - the last transducer actually creates the sound. Source is important, but if you can't reproduce what the source can provide then what's the point?

The true source has always been the recording, not necessarily what it's being played on, even though that does matter but is secondary to the recording itself.

My 60 years experience dictates recording and speakers. Getting the room/speaker interface right will yield the best sound with the smallest investment.