Wow! what a debate. It is great reading this and noticing the opinions of so many knowledgable people. Usually with my friends, they already have an audio system. Typically mid fi equipment and they want better sound quality. Where to begin. With an existing system, to me it totally depends on which component I could tell really is hurting the system most. with most, they don't have a ton of money to buy everything at once. So, one component at a time. They plan on upgrading everything eventually, but they must plan and save. So, sometimes items for sale come up that you really can't pass up. You may walk into a store and the salesperson may have used equipment or new and give you a price you simply can't walk away from for a really nice piece of equipment. Say for example, you have Yamaha or Sony mid fi system. Walk into a store and in the corner is a used Mark Levinson 23 or 23.5 and the owner wants $1000 for it. (I know, this would rarely happen, but...) I would imediately recommend that my friend grab this amp if it works. Or a really decent Audio Research amp or Martin Logan Request speakers. The point is, you never know what will fall into your lap or when. So, keep your eyes open and good friends near and grab what you can when it comes up. If your "buddy" told you to get speakers first and the amps or pre-amp comes up and you pass on it because you believed that you absolutely had to get the speakers first, then you missed a golden opportunity.
Ordinarily, I would tell my friend to get decent speakers first if they already had a mid fi system and then upgrade the electonics accordingly afterwards. One piece at a time. But, as I mentioned previously, sometimes, you can't look a gift horse in the mouth. Grab it if it presents itself to you. But first, establish a sound quality you want and a resulting price point and stay within that price point. There is always something better out there and most Audiogoner's will acknowledge that there is better equipment out there than what they have. There are better cars, houses, audio equipment, etc. You have to know your limits on price and what resulting sound quality you would like.
I ask my friends those three questions. 1) what audio quality do you really want? 2) Do you sit and listen to music or do you use it as background music? and 3) what is your budget? Then, knowing that most of my friends don't have an unlimited budget, I recommend that they upgrade one component at a time. Speakers first, better source component second (cd player or transport and dac), then pre-amp next and amp. Then we play with cables along the way. The next thing I recommend is that they buy very good used equipment instead of new. Because they can purchase very good to outstanding used equipment for the same price as newer but lesser equipment typically.
good discussion and debate.
enjoy
Ordinarily, I would tell my friend to get decent speakers first if they already had a mid fi system and then upgrade the electonics accordingly afterwards. One piece at a time. But, as I mentioned previously, sometimes, you can't look a gift horse in the mouth. Grab it if it presents itself to you. But first, establish a sound quality you want and a resulting price point and stay within that price point. There is always something better out there and most Audiogoner's will acknowledge that there is better equipment out there than what they have. There are better cars, houses, audio equipment, etc. You have to know your limits on price and what resulting sound quality you would like.
I ask my friends those three questions. 1) what audio quality do you really want? 2) Do you sit and listen to music or do you use it as background music? and 3) what is your budget? Then, knowing that most of my friends don't have an unlimited budget, I recommend that they upgrade one component at a time. Speakers first, better source component second (cd player or transport and dac), then pre-amp next and amp. Then we play with cables along the way. The next thing I recommend is that they buy very good used equipment instead of new. Because they can purchase very good to outstanding used equipment for the same price as newer but lesser equipment typically.
good discussion and debate.
enjoy