Which is the most important piece of kit

[Anonymous]

SHAXOS:Its a bit difficult as hi fi is only is good as your limiting factor - so you have to find the limiting factor that has the most effect on your system. Id personally say get the best speakers you can but id make sure that the cd and amp were up to the task even if they are not as good as the speakers. Its better to change the budget to a more even ratio (id still spend more on speakers).

I agree - You've summed up what I was trying to say. Of course you need balance in your system but if you are going to bend the HiFi rule of thids then I'd spend more on speakers than the amp and the CD player to get a balanced set-up.

There is merit in those who say source to avoid the SISO problem but even budget CD players are pretty good on the whole now. Not so I agree with other sources where you do tend to get what you pay for.

Amps - well if you really think once you are above the £400 mark that you get more than more power from your amp then that's great. Perhaps you like the sonic tricks that the amp designer has introduced. Personally as I said before I really only want the amp to do one thing and that's amplify the source as faithfully as possible - once it does that I really don't want it to do any more.

Speakers are the hardest part of a system to get right. you only need to look at the various designs of crossover employed by different speaker compaines to see that not to mention the variety of materials deployed. It's a real engineering headache to get the performance of a speaker right. As such it can have the biggest influence by far on what you hear.

 

[Thaiman]

Speakers for me, because of room acoustic is different from room to room. The perfect pair of speakers (I haven't come across one yet) should sound the same in every room.

That's why sometime you demo a pair of speakers, love them, bought them just to find out later that they sound a bit boomy (or lack of bass) in your own room. This could work either way I suppose...my pair do sound better in my room comparing to the room I have visit at the show.

 

[Anonymous]

When I first got into Hi-Fi I was told to spend 40% of the budget on source, 30% on amp, 20% on speakers and 10% on cables and interconnects. That was in the 80's though. AH! halcyon days.

 

[scorps]

i too would definately have to go for the speakers me and my brother have this argument all the time and hes with the cdp but i would always spend most on speakers followed by cdp then amp just my opinion

at the end of the day it is the speakers that are last in the chain so therefore should b able to play everything that is being put to them and as others have mentioned you can get some very capable budget gear

 

[fr0g]

I think the title of the thread, and the susequent post are misleading.

I answered AMP, and I hold by that given the rules of the OP. But I also agree that the speakers are the most important single component...But back to the rules of the OP...

If you take an example from WHF 5 star winners...

Marantz CD6002 cd player Marantz PM6002 amp MA BR2 speakers

and were given £1500 to spend entirely on one component to upgrade, which would make the biggest difference (while remaining listenable)...for me, it would be a better amp.

If you put some £1500 speakers in that system, they would seriously show up the amp and CDs shortcomings.
If you put a £1500 CD player in then the cheap amp and speakers will stifle it, and the improvement will be small IMO.
If you put a £1500 amp in, then you will get the best from both the CD AND the speakers.

 

[Thaiman]

Yes, Frog...I see the point there but why anyone would ever put £1,500 speakers in that system?

Budget CD players do sound very similar, as long as the amp can drive the using pair of speakers correctly I bet many people couldn't pick thier own electronics from blind test!

 

[Anonymous]

I would always say the mains lead is by far the most important piece of kit!

My system sounds terrible without it!!

I'll get me coat!

ILMM

 

[fr0g]

ILOVEMICKEYMOUSE:
I would always say the mains lead is by far the most important piece of kit!

My system sounds terrible without it!!

I'll get me coat!

ILMM

...but upgrading it makes zero difference...

(I'll get mine too)

 

[Anonymous]

ILOVEMICKEYMOUSE:
I would always say the mains lead is by far the most important piece of kit!

Don't take the mickey...

 

[the record spot]

Hughes123:ILOVEMICKEYMOUSE:
I would always say the mains lead is by far the most important piece of kit!

Don't take the mickey...

Absolutely, couldn't agree more. The more people who don't treat this area with the seriousness it deserves miss the point entirely.

Apart from the source, the National Grid!

(The coat hook's getting lighter all the time!)

 

[Anonymous]

the record spot:Hughes123:ILOVEMICKEYMOUSE:
I would always say the mains lead is by far the most important piece of kit!

Don't take the mickey...

Absolutely, couldn't agree more. The more people who don't treat this area with the seriousness it deserves miss the point entirely.

Apart from the source, the National Grid!

(The coat hook's getting lighter all the time!)

Sorry for me being a little illiterate today, but were you arguing for mains leads upgrades or against them?

 

[the record spot]

Generally speaking, against them. Maybe not quite snake oil, but a few dabs of bad science coupled with a hefty price tag tends to put me off for the most part. £700 for a mains wire (for example)? I beg to differ....!

 

[Alsone]

They always say its the source.

A good amp or speakers with a poor source will only reveal its shortcomings.

A good source will always sound good but just have its brillaince masked a bit by the poorer speakers.

Its better to have a good sound half revealed than a poor sound fully laid bare.

 

[Anonymous]

I would have the what hi fi team would be idealy suit to answer this as they have probably tested budget gear with high end speakers ect ect

 

[tounra]

Thaiman:
Yes, Frog...I see the point there but why anyone would ever put £1,500 speakers in that system?

Budget CD players do sound very similar, as long as the amp can drive the using pair of speakers correctly I bet many people couldn't pick thier own electronics from blind test!

True.
I could hardly tell a difference between my Marantz CD5000 and CD6000KI.
I was very disappointed at first by the upgrade from a so-called 'souped-up' Philips player (CD5000 was regarded this way by many) to a genuine 'full-blooded' Marantz player.
The real difference occured when I had played music with the CD6000KI for a couple of weeks and then all of the sudden decided to switch back to my old CD5000: gone were the bigger dynamics and the slightly more analogue qualities of the CD6000KI.

BUT...I very soon had settled back to the 'old' sound and felt that it was just as good, but maybe slightly different.

The differences between my old B&W's and my current AE Aegis EVO 3's were far more obvious, so were the differences between my old AKAI amp and my current Marantz PM7200.
So to me the source is obviously the least important.

(Though I'll admit that the sound of my cd's, played with my iMac (connected to the Marantz amp) is REALLY inferior than played with a dedicated cd player, there's no question about it)

 

[Anonymous]

In my experience it's always room first, you can put the best kit in the world in a poor room and it will always sound poor, it will make the biggest difference and it will give you stunning results, now I have treated my room the best I can the sound is amazing, it's a bit like listening to headphones, close your eyes and the speakers will disappear completely, the sound is very holographic and natural.

Next is synergy, buying kit that works with your room, and amplifier and speaker quality, you can't make good speakers sound good if the amps and sources arn't up to it, your just wasting your money, speakers will make the biggest difference once the amplifiers can drive and control them, amplifier quality is very important.

Source first was termed in the turntable area, spending more on a turntable brings sonic gains which are very noticeable, I don't think there is such a thing as a bad CD player, differences yes, but bad, no.

Cables last. Tweaking and modifying? forget it, different not better, amplifier makers now how to make amplifiers, they don't need them modified.

 

[Anonymous]

As long as your CDP and amp are decent quality, speakers will be the most important piece of kit to affect the sound..(be it sonically or visually)

 

[Anonymous]

The room, thinking about it now, is just as important as the speakers - the accoustics of my room are very nasty...but in my dad's workplace, he has 15 foot high Victorian ceilings and the room is huge (like nearly 40ft square) and even my JVC A-X5 with a Pioneer DV-444 (2001 DVD player) and some Wharfedale E50s (vintage 70s speakers) sounds better than my bedroom system (Arcam A32, CD73, Wharfedale EVO2 30s)...it's such a shame...

 

[Anonymous]

It's not too hard to resolve, just by treating your first reflections will give your a for more focused sound.

 

[a.g.]

I think that someone with too much spare time on their hands this weekend should dig some of their old kit out from their attics and try budget components with their mid/high end kit and rank each setup out of 5.

Never a very fair test, but it would be interesting to know the result.

 

[Anonymous]

a.g.:I think that someone with too much spare time on their hands this weekend should dig some of their old kit out from their attics and try budget components with their mid/high end kit and rank each setup out of 5.

Never a very fair test, but it would be interesting to know the result.

I did that a few weeks ago: I still think my JVC A-X5 is better than my Arcam A32...and the JVC is 30 years old! My JVC A-X400 is nearly as good, although it doesn't have the dynamics of the big JVC or Arcam.