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A stupid question for which there's no sensible answer.

I know, I know. At least I've labeled it properly.

Here goes: of the following elements of a system, how would you rank their influence on the sound? In other words, generally, which would someone want to upgrade or prioritize, and in what order,  if all of the following pieces were inferior to an amp/preamp and speakers they were happy with? Power cables, connector cables. speaker cables. streaming source, music source, dac (I vote for this one as #1), room treatment, speaker placement, type of chair, earwax quotient, what you ate for lunch, etc.

I hereby give my permission for everyone to tell me this is an idiotic question since the real answer is: it depends. (But I did put a "generally" in there somewhere). Anyway, I prefer that we debate this based on what we've experienced when we've tinkered. So I guess I'm really interested in anecdotes.

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Showing 2 responses by djones51

djones51
4,947 posts
 
1. Speakers, flatter the response and wide dispersion the better
2.Room
3.integrate 1 and 2 with proper treatment and PEQ. 
4. Amp, preamp, source or better yet get active speakers 
5. Dac for digital. Cables are irrelevant as long as they work. USB is fine as long as your DAC is of competent build. 

You say you're going from computer to DAC if you can hear noise  caused by grounding issues or if the computer interferes with playback it might be worth getting an inexpensive streamer.
djones51
4,947 posts
 
The reason room and speakers and EQ.  are mentioned is because that's about 90% if he does nothing with those it's a waste of time and money. 
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