Speaker priority: high or low???

Nrchy, besides having to have compatability with associated cables and electronics, speakers have the distinction of having to have compatability with the room.

Some speaker problems cannot be fixed no matter how great the amp / CDP are. For example:
Box-induced colorations of the Spendor 1/2.
Lack of bass in B&W 303's.
Ringing in Virgo III's.
Lack of correct harmonics in Revel M-20's.

Also I've never heard people say they can't hear differences between speakers but people have made that statement with CDP and power amps.

That said, I can appreciate why people place high priority on CDP and amps but generally find the differences less noticeable to speaker differences.

Paul isn't your mutual friend actually named BOB Carver. How good a friend is he that you don't know his name.
In regard to your question; it was never amps vs. speakers. I would be more inclined to ask: Speakers vs. front-end? With this stated I still think amps are more important than speakers.
One of the reasons I did not subscribe to TAS is the utter delusion under which they (Harry Pearson and his priests to the worship of Harry) live. If this dr. green actually said what you quote I would respond with a little surprise and a lot of disappointment. His conclusions are unreasonable but since logic is nolonger thaught in school any twit can spout his foolishness and have it considered just as valuable as a reasoned conclusion.
What are the speakers going to add to the music that was not retrieved from the source or translated to the speakers? I just don't get it.

What speakers can and do "add to the music that was not retrieved from the source or translated to the speakers", is the problem. Furthermore they can also subtract from "the music that was not retireved from the source or translated to the speakers. Worst of all they usually do both in a rather chaotic fashion.

Nrchy, no, Im sorry, I mistyped. It's Jim Croft, who worked for Carver. He is also a Harbeth user. Somewhere above I got the impression that amps v. speakers was the main point of the thread, but I see in your original post you did ask about other components. I think many reasonable people think that the source is equally or maybe even more important than speakers.

What are speakers going to add? That's just the point. Speakers add frequency response variations and distortion, including material colorations in dynamic drivers, while amps can be made to transmit a perfectly flat low distortion signal.

Some people reason from sound empirical evidence, e.g., repeatable and verifiable tests and measurements, and listening by ears trained over decades of playing musical instruments, listening to live performances, and in-depth auditioning of hi-fi components.

Others form their conclusions from reading ad copy in the guise of mass market reviews or listening to salespeople or other consumer goods fans as ignorant of relevant facts as they are.