Sure sources (and preamps) affect sonics, but with them, it's basically "what you buy is what you hear" -- they are what they are. The reason the amp+speaker=primary system sonics is because:
A. Once a signal is created (by a source) the amp processes the signal (multiplies it by a huge factor) more radically than any other device (even including equalizers!) A line preamp (not a phono preamp) is really a signal switcher + a buffer stage; it selects a signal (source) and then optimizes it for driving an amplifier; but it doesn't really alter the signal that much; not compared to an amp!
B. The speaker (and the speaker/amp interface, AKA how much the amp likes the speaker it's driving ;-) is the other major factor that determines a system's sound character. Don't tell me about the room treatments, and the cables, and the temperature and the altitude ;-) they're all important. Nevertheless, you can do anything you want upstream, but horns, stats, cones, domes, ribbons, buttons and bows! each have their own unmistakable sonic character -- and you can't make one sound like any of the others (not by any legal means ;-)
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