Percentage to spend on Amp and Speakers

Jim, once again, I believe that changing speakers frequently runs a high chance of throwing your system off-balance. Remember that the soundwaves you hear are produced by your speakers, not by any other part of the chain. I think a number of us have given you sound arguments as to why speaker choices are the most critical, and a good place to start. If you do not want to be convinced, so be it. But hopefully other newbies here will see the sense of it. And by the way, I still don't understand your use of the word "figurative", actually less so than before. Or let me give it a try: you're the kind of guy who would first select tyres and then go out and buy a car ?

If you short yourself on the front end you can spend 50k on the rest and it will still sound lousy. If you spend 2k on your front end and 5 k on speakers will it sound better than a system you spend 4 k on the front end and 3k on speakers.I am willing to bet the system with the better fron end will allways sound better. Speakers first is the biggest deception in Audio.When dealers tell you to put the biggest% here its because they make the most margin mark up on speakers.If you have 5k to spend and put 3k into speakers the dealers makes twice as much money as if you where to only spend 2k on speakers and the rest on front end and amps. To many people rush out and spend 5/10k on new speakers when spending 5k on a front end would yield better sonics with their old speakers than with the ones they just laid out a fortune for.Sorry to be so long winded. The amp amplifies and the speaker reproduces.It only makes sense that the better the input the better the output.Garbage in garbage out.Even more so as the amplification and speakers become more revealling.When you sit and voice something you want it in its best voice.So put a fortune in the front end to start and your on your way.

The discussion about how much should be spent on the various components in a system makes for interesting reading. Unfortunately, it appears that all the arguments stated thus far can be both proved and disproved. Doesn't it really depend on the components in the system? Isn't it ultimately about balance and synergy? Can those really be bought outright or are they instead achieved?

Amen, Fpeel. Synergy is THE important factor in a system. Synergy is also subjective. It means the equipment fits together in a synergistic way, to ONE's own ears. Others may think the sound is terrible... And synergy is achieved, it is not a function of money spent. Which is why some $3000 systems I have heard sounded better than some $100,000 ones

Joe,I don't think we're connecting. I am not suggesting "changing speakers frequently", just trying to build a solid foundation for a long term upgrade path. Regarding the car/tires analogy, no I would not buy the tires first. I would get a machine with a great drivetrain/suspension design and upgrade components from there. I see the amp/pre as the drivetrain. Get it right and go from there. I still don't understand throwing the system out of balance when getting better speakers. I have experienced better speakers being revealing of what's upstream and have found that good electronics sound good with almost all speakers (yes, there are exceptions but these are extreme and obvious -- like trying to drive big SoundLabs with a low power triode amp -- and not likely in real world scenarios). Nothing is forever in this hobby, and there is no "best", we all get the jones for "more" at some time. Most of us will get better components at every point in our systems before we're done (most likely when we're buried). My approach works for me and allows me to go on upgrading for a long time (read: years, and not to be confused with changing speakers frequently) before having to make major changes in the guts of the system. I guess it comes down to different strokes for different folks.