Most important component??

the room/the speakers.....the cd itself

I have to admit that my old crystal ball is a little bit out of focus. But when I looked real hard ............ yikes!....... all I could see was Duke. Well said Duke.

Audiokinesis' Crystal Ball is the most important component
Duke,great job !!

It seems to me that, with most "better" components, almost everything concerning how the system sounds can be rather subjective and personal. Before any objectivity can even be approached regarding a quality evaluation of any individual component in one's system one needs, IMHO, to address the acoustical integrity of the listening room. If our listening rooms do not, at least, approach a semblance of accoustical "ground zero" aren't we throwing pearls before swine where components are concerned, and just sort of flayling in the dark when trying to determine "which components are, or are not, the most important"? I have friends who have systems valued close to 100,000 and their systems do not sound very good because they have no room to properly set it up.

The operative word in your question was "system". In a system, everything has to work together. So it seems that the most important component would be the ability match or put together components that are compatible. In a true "system" all the components will be important. When trying to find out which is the most important, you will have to decide what part of the system you are willing enhance and what part of it you are willing to sacrifice performance if you are willing to spend less or buy lower quality in a particular component. ThAt being said, the decision will be based on what is more important to you.