Source or speaker

Think about what the various parts of a system have to do. Your speakers are the link that moves, or tansduces, the information from an electrical information to sound mechanical information (driver movement) to sound information. This transduction between ways of 'displaying' the information brings in all sorts of subjectivity and problems with comparative measurements. The speakers (an of course the room acoustics) perform a function that can only be tested as to accuracy by going back to the original performance from which the information was obtained. All other parts of the system are in one environment where each stage (whether an internal amplification stage, input and output of a switch, or from one box (such as a preamp) to another (such as an amp) can be tested for accuracy with methods and measurement resolution that swamps any noticable differences. As to working with a digital source - the only movement you have there, still in an electrical enviroment, is from the digital word to the analog equivalent. Again, what makes digital so advantageous is noise immunity and that the resolution as far as audio swamps noticable differences in the conversion from digital to analog. As to cables and interconnects - this is of so little consequence (assuming you aren't connecting everything with corroded #28 wire) as to not warrant attention - as someone as stated - just buy large wire. So, in short - the speaker and the room are pretty much the place to put efforts and money. One thing I have always wondered - we often start with the idea that a flat response across the audio freq range in a given room and true representation of the signal give us the the desired outcome. However, we do not take into account our own transducers - the physiology. Not really an issue if one has "normal" hearing. But for persons over 50 years old or who have been exposed to acoustic trauma (including live music at 120 db for hours). Seems like the ideal to get the information into our heads would be to start with audiometric testing, thus obtaining where the individual had db loss (i.e. perhaps 10 db down at 4000 hz, 20 db down at 8000 Hz. normal below 4000 Hz. etc) and then using appropriate attenuators to create what would be for that individual a flat or accurate response. Just a thought. But until then - money is best spent on speakers not digial sources. If you want to try it yourself do blind A/B tests at a showroom between the cheap model digital source and the one that costs 5 times as much- this likely will be discouraged by most salesman - I have heard " Oh our switching gear is not very good and you won't be able to hear the difference here in the showroom" Interesting.

Shadorn,
I just thought I should post that I never determined whether hanging the amp with bungee chords made any difference. But the turntable I say no contest.
And the speakers too I prefer suspended, but I never quantified that.
I don't pretend to have discovered anything new or the tweak of the century, but I am hoping some day after comparative testing to say "hey I was on the right track".
As for now I am very happy with what I have and am wondering if I can take it further.

I just thought I should post that I never determined whether hanging the amp with bungee chords made any difference.

Glad to hear you didn't find an audible improvement - perhaps my ears aren't so bad after all. I get the impression from many posts extolling rather odd/extreme tweaks that I must simply have tin ears.

Bob,

Good point. In a way it all often amounts to "insurance".

If your engineering minded then XLR balanced "insures" you a better sound because you know it has theoretically better noise rejection and immunity from RF/EM. In reality RCA is often so good that you cannot hear a practical difference except in extreme conditions - long runs or a rats nest of components in a huge rack. The same can be said for "thermal compression" or "jitter" - the more technical specters that conjure fear in the hearts of technically minded. In the case of thermal compression - you have to play LOUD before it even becomes an issue.

For those less engineering minded then almost any tweak can seem like "insurance"- a magic pebble or a cable elevator. Provided there are a few people who swear by the tweak then seeds of doubt grow into monsters of our "Hi-Fi Id". These insurance tweaks are the preferred route to anxiety over our precious systems. In essence, nothing ever kills the Id monsters (of our subconscious fears) - so we just keep on tweaking and buying and upgrading...

Engineers or non-engineering minded, ultimately I think we are all mostly driven by dark fear or insecurities that we are not quite getting the utmost from our systems...and clever marketing folks pray on these fears.

Ultimately, our deepest subconscious desires and fears conjure invisible Monsters of the ID as depicted in Forbidden Planet and many art forms (Shakespeare's Tempest). Essentially our deepest desires lead to fears which subconsciously drive us in directions to fight them (whether we know it or not).

"The Krell forgot one thing: monsters from the id." -- Warren Stevens (as Doc Ostrow), Forbidden Planet