After 30 years in the business, and lots of system design, I believe that starting with the speakers is the way to go. They do make the bigest sonic impact on the system sound. Room size, cosmetic (WAF), bass extention and level issues will be important in this decision.
Once you have picked out your speakers and you have knowledge of your listening environment and listening biases you can pick a complementary Amp and preamp or Integrated amp. Features are also important in this choice. Solid state or tubes, remote control and system flexability and future upgradability are all issues to look at in addition to sound quality. I have seen too much money spent here so as to not end up with a balanced system. The idea is to get the quality power that you need to run your speakers, in your room, to the volume levels that you need. Overspending here means that you will not have enough for speakers and sources.
You then pick your sources to sonically complement the amp & speaker choices.
Finally you use cables and Line conditioners to fine tune the system. I am a big believer in doing the Line conditioning first so you can clean up the system. With this all in place you will then know what cables to add to the system to fine tune the tonal balance to your liking. Cables are like system equalizers that fine tune a systems performance. Too many people think that cables will "FIX" their system problems whereas I believe that if there are basic system issues they should be fixed and then use cables to get the most out of your other system choices.
System design is not easy and too many people look for the best amp or preamp that they can buy and end up not getting the best overall sound. Balance is the key.
Walter
Once you have picked out your speakers and you have knowledge of your listening environment and listening biases you can pick a complementary Amp and preamp or Integrated amp. Features are also important in this choice. Solid state or tubes, remote control and system flexability and future upgradability are all issues to look at in addition to sound quality. I have seen too much money spent here so as to not end up with a balanced system. The idea is to get the quality power that you need to run your speakers, in your room, to the volume levels that you need. Overspending here means that you will not have enough for speakers and sources.
You then pick your sources to sonically complement the amp & speaker choices.
Finally you use cables and Line conditioners to fine tune the system. I am a big believer in doing the Line conditioning first so you can clean up the system. With this all in place you will then know what cables to add to the system to fine tune the tonal balance to your liking. Cables are like system equalizers that fine tune a systems performance. Too many people think that cables will "FIX" their system problems whereas I believe that if there are basic system issues they should be fixed and then use cables to get the most out of your other system choices.
System design is not easy and too many people look for the best amp or preamp that they can buy and end up not getting the best overall sound. Balance is the key.
Walter