The common wisdom seems to be the opposite (at least from speaker makers), but I have tried the many speakers that have come thru my house on lesser amps or my midfi A/V receiver and something was always very wrong, and things often sounded worse than cheap speakers. On the other hand, I have tried many humble speakers on my my really good amps (& source) and heard really fine results.
Recently I tried my Harbeth SHL5s (& previously my Aerial 10Ts, Piega P10s, and others) on the receiver or even my Onkyo A9555 (which is nice with my 1985 Ohm Walsh 4s, which I consider mid-fi), and the 3 high end speakers sounded boomy, bland, opaque.
But when I tried even really cheap speakers on my main setup (Edge NL12.1 w/tube preamp) I got very nice results (old Celestion SL6s, little Jensen midfi speakers).
So I don't think it's a waste of resources to get great amplification and sources even for more humble speakers. My Harbeth SHL5s *really* benefit from amps & sources that are far more expensive than the Harbeths.
Once I had Aerial 10Ts that sounded like new speakers with vocals to die for when I drove them with a Pass X350 to replace an Aragon 8008.
Oh well, thanks for reading my rambling thoughts here...
So I think I would avoid pairing good speakers with lesser amps,
Stickman451, sorry, speaker choice without taking the amp into consideration will lead to expensive mistakes. If you think otherwise you will be a great resource to your local dealer.
Either course will can/will be successful if one makes educated decisions/choices, in ones equipment purchases, as I said earlier. None of us are trying to launch a rocket to the moon, or perform brain surgery, here. Just to satisfy our ears and minds. Some have much higher standards than others, but the goal is still the same, and very attainable.
This thread made the statement that the amp was more important in regard to financial resources, or quality as in Class A, B, or C; although it was not stated in that precise manner. Nowhere is the sequence of purchase mentioned. "You talking about a trolley jumping the tracks", this is the best example yet. Why didn't youse guys start a thread titled "Buy speakers first"?
I dont agree that poor room/speaker synergy is beyond improvement from a better or different amplifier in all cases. The classic example that comes to mind is a booming sound from larger speakers in a small room. It surprises people that a more powerful amp with better bass control can often completely eliminate this problem.
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