in what way does a CD player ,amp and speakers affect the sound indvidualy?

[admin_exported]

pretty much as the post says, in what way can a given CD player
affect the sound you hear and in what way can an amp and speakers
affect the sound
I used to have a denon component hi-fi it was ancient a DC-30
methinks and my wife hated the way it looked! anyway it had a
remarkably clear sound that had razor sharp timing and punch, wasn't
so forgiving with rock/indie though. was the punch coming from the
speakers? was the clarity coming from its amp or CD player? my
current set up has a warmer sound is that due to my Sony amp? more
over in what order does a CD,AMP and speakers have the greatest
impact on sound quality?

 

[the record spot]

IMO each has as great an impact as the other, dependent on the inherent sonic character of the component changed.

I changed all three components this past year; different amps, speakers and CD player. I used to have a Linn Mimik CDP, Marantz 6010KI amp and a pair of Mission 733i floorstanders. The sound was okay, but didn't feel right to my ears after a few years. So, the CD player was replaced by my current one, the Marantz SA7001 KI.

That change brought was good, but a little bass light, thanks to the lean nature of both the amp and CDP. The speakers were changed in November last year, to the Mission 752. Another change, a lot leaner, bigger soundstage but not wholly right still.

Picked up a Technics 80s amp (SU V6), big chunky thing, good in the bass, but the midrange was out. Tried an Arcam Alpha 5 I had from years before, better, good synergy, but though the bass was good, the amp lost some of the higher end sparkle. Next came a NAD 3020A, my amp from 1986 and lo and behold, it worked a treat. A real gem, the mix was fantastic and so musical. The tradeoff was the reduced soundstage, but it was a price worth paying.

I'd heard good things about late 1970s Sansui kit, so £30 lighter I picked up their AU-217 amp and it's pretty good too. Much tighter in the bass than the NAD, and still getting used to the sound. Good thoughts so far. Long term plan is to upgrade the amp and that might include a model higher up the Sansui n17 series (the 717 and 917 are both items of desire!).

Which one is the most important? Your call. I can't, for one minute see how anyone can say that any one item is more important than the next from a sonic perspective with any true conviction. I'm a source first kind of guy, in that I want the best retrieval I can get, but with digital that landscape shifts unlike vinyl where the most important element will always be the turntable/arm/cartridge.

In short, they're all important.