I think the choice of speaker and then the choosing the amp
to drive them is the most important choices in building a
system; other than the recording and the room, they will
have the biggest impact on the overall sound of your system
- the change brought by digital source and preamp, while
important do not make nearly as much of a difference as the
amp/speaker in my experience. I also agree with Wilysnet
recommendation on an excellent tube preamp selling for a
fraction of the cost of its acoustic competition, though if
I had a tube amp I would go with the even less expensive
Lightspeed Attenuator $450 which is the best sounding volume
control tool I have ever heard if well matched to an amp
(though not very flexible with only one input/output, and no
remote control.
So yes, everything is important....but the amp/speaker is
critical and the most defining pairing for what you system
sounds like. Once you get that right, the rest is relatively
easy (though not foolproof).