2. amps-preamps
  3. 1042217463

Ok this will be a good thread.

What in your opinion is the most important part of a good 2 channel system. Or what has the biggest impact on overall sound. For example if you feel Speakers are most important, or Preamp, Amp, Source. I am not looking for a ss vs. tube debate, just what do you feel is most important.

I will start:
I feel speakers are the most important part. I know lots of you are going to say electronics, but keep it to one part, like Preamp, Amp, etc.
Steve
musiqlovr

Showing 1 response by rbirke

rbirke
144 posts
 
Taken in isolation....

No question -- it's the amp.

Clean, stable power, and plenty of it will bring any good set of speakers to life.

That said, speakers must match the room size and the listener's desire for bass. A good speaker mismatched to its room will sound lousy. I've moved four times in the past two years, and can attest to the fact that speakers that sounded wonderful in one room stink badly in another.

A pretty good cd player is not much worse than a very good one. I have owned a Meridian 508-24 and didn't find the step down to a Cambridge D500SE to be too harsh. I've also owned a decent Kenwood player and a Micromega, and the steps up the ladder weren't as profound as the dollars spent would have led me to expect.

But a mediocre amp (like my Luxman integrated) can't hold a candle to any product from Bryston, Conrad-Johnson or AR. Everything collapses unless supported by good clean power.

My order of importance:

AMP
CABLES
SOURCE
SPEAKERS
PREAMP

And yes, any really crappy component will drag everything down.

If you are talking about altering the total sound of the system, speakers matter most. But if you are talking about changing one thing that will make everything sound better, amp amp amp.
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