Garbage in - Garbage out?


How many of you think that the source is the most important component and that everything else in the chain should be upgraded to the source? Is it worth it to spend mucho $$ on a cd only source these days? I've got upgradeitis...
ericthered
Let me be the first to try out Jeffloistarca's new acronym: STFA!

And while this dead horse has been repeatedly and mercilessly flogged on this forum quite a bit recently, I still have to say that all my audio experience (while not nearly as extensive as that of many participants here) points unambiguously to the inescapable conclusion that electromechanical transducers are without doubt the weakest links in the audio chain. For those of us of a digital bent, that means speakers, speakers, speakers! On the other hand, if vinyl is important in your system, the electromechanical transducer at the beginning of the chain (cartridge) is probably very nearly as important, and there I would have to agree that garbage in--garbage out becomes a much more reasonable proposition.

The flaw in the GIGO hypothesis as it relates to digital, however, is that the differences among various digital devices seem to range from minor to extremely subtle; whereas the differences among speakers can be enormous.

Having recently had the opportunity to mix and match components from three different systems in my own listening environment over the course of a number of weeks and months, I can say with complete conviction that it is always the speakers that make the largest differences in the sound of the system. I do not deny that there are differences among amplifiers, CD players, cables, etc., but again, at least among equipment of decent quality, these are often minor compared to the differences in speakers.
Check out the "OK this will be a good thread" thread from a week or so back, it has a lot of discussion on the subject.
Rel is a realistic person. The fault with the source theory, which harks back to Ivor the Invincible, is that not each link in the chain is equal. By far the hardest components to design and build are speakers. Ivor was right, in a way, an analogue front-end being at its core a transducer, it is also quite prone to various ailments, so, for analogue fans, improving that part of the system yields appreciable results. Why no one tests systems as a whole still baffles me, since no one yet has been able to listen to a power amplifier without a source on one end and speakers on the other. Check out the archives, this, like most other metaphysical audio subjects, has often been discussed on this site.
Look at your system as a whole and find the weakest link. A different amp (or source) can profoundly change the way a speaker sounds, so the most effective upgrade is not always as simple as changing "the most important component". But you cant fix a "bad" source or amp with great speakers, so generally speaking, yes garbage in-garbage out. And thats all I've got to say about that.