where to use your best ic s.

Before reading these posts, I'd always heard that the IC to the power amp was the most important. Of course if lengths are the same, or can be made the same (even temporarily), you can try it both ways, TO preamp or FROM preamp with the best. But if you need different lengths and can't make this test, I'd be very hesitant to buy the best IC for a source. My source for the opposite conclusion has credentials that I trust, and my own ears bear out his advice.

Nice thing about opinions is they can be readily ignored. Feel free to ignore mine. I prefer to use a little logic myself; garbage in, garbage out. I use my best IC's from my source components to pre-amp. The better the signal to the pre-amp the better it will carry on downstream and ultimately to your ears. Having said that, you need to make sure you have decent IC's from pre-amp to amp, and acceptable speakers cables or your front end investment was wasted. To sumarize, use your best up front and make sure the balance of your cables are of decent quality. Jeff

Go for the best you can afford up front & avoid having to buy them later. I agree withmost of these posts...sonically you will notice more improvement from the source downstream. In otherwords your best interconnect should be used from your source to your next componenent (a simple rule of thumb).