Setup vs. Amp/Preamp choice?


Which do you value more?

I've read endless questions re: which amp, preamp,or integrated is best with which speakers. I believe most of that discussion is nonsense for most equipment. True, there are certain electrical synergies between amps and speakers that are important, and preamps certainly sound different. But the absolutely critical factors in determining what a system will sound like are: 1. your own likes and dislikes and 2. setup. I have heard great gear sound terrible and average gear sound fantastic - it really depends on how things were set up in a particular listening room. I've heard people describe a particular integrated amp as having as small soundstage - In my room and with my speakers, the soundstage was vast. I've heard people describe the sound of certain gear as shrill or unlistenable - Well perhaps it is in their setup, but what does that tell me about how it will sound in my room?

Many of you who ask for advice about gear place inordinate value on subjective opinions of individuals with varying tastes, hearing ability, prejudices, rooms and setups. That is completely absurd: The only way to judge how a piece of equipment will sound is to test it in your room after proper setup. And small changes in speaker placement can make a huge difference. So stop running around like a bunch of maniacs who have to switch equipment every few months in search of nirvana, and concentrate on setting up your system properly. That's where the greatest reward is (for everyone except dealers).

Do you agree?
msratty
Based upon the nature of the responses Msratty has obviously struck a nerve. Although frankly, I not really sure why. It's not as if the OP said anything radical and I don't think he was impolite or overly aggressive in his tone. Could be that what he said is obvious to the point of being trite. But sometimes the obvious needs to be said. I peruse the virtual systems section and I see some incredible systems that, at least visually, appears to really well setup for stereo playback. At the same time I also see any number of systems that are comprised of quality components, but look to be poorly setup. Looks can be misleading, but I'm thinking of examples of wide dispersion speakers placed in front of wall of full length windows in an uncarpeted room. Or what about the big Wilson where one speaker is jammed in a corner and the other is at the interior corner of an L-shaped room? And of course there's my fav, the Dynaudios recessed into a closet. It's possible that all these systems sound quite good, but they are clearly not optimized. It's a legitimate comment to question the owners of these systems priorities.
You's right Jim, no cure nor palliative treatment. . . perhaps in the future there will be gene therapy for degenerative audiophilia nervosa, according to the latest work by Schmaltzenstein-Gavronsky and Gigi Pugnetti, , but the treatment is likely to be even more expensive than the indulgence, so. . . why bother fixing something that makes us happy?

G.
Onhwy61, putting the tone aside for the moment, how about "absurd" and "running around like maniacs"?
"absurd" and "running around like maniacs"

Not quite sure. . . I thought audiophile were a reasonably sedentary bunch. . . as for us being 'absurd'. . . the characterization remains in the eyes of the messianically prone beholder who started this deliciously whimsical thread. . . . If he sees us as 'absurd', so be it. . . The gent is entitled to his own pleasurable delusions, like everyone else.