Which is the most important part of a stereo system?

Honestly,  it is YOU.  Everything else is secondary.

All of appreciating hi fidelity is entirely subjective regardless of equipment.  For example,  I have auditioned Focal loudspeakers on many different occasions and...I just don't like 'em.The last time I was able to listen to them was at the former location of Stereo Exchange in NYC.  Another gent and myself were standing there listening to the same music and we had very different opinions. He loved them,  I didn't. The reviews were stellar,  the manufacturer is very highly regarded in the biz.  The other gent parted with $17,000.  I bought an Astell & Kern portable player.

An earlier post here mentioned the room - and that is spot-on.  Yes,  experimenting with different amps and preamps and whatnot is fun - and expensive - but moving things around a little or a lot has substantial effect on everything.

I employ what Jim Thiel of Thiel Audio once suggested as a method of sussing things out - the "other room" application.  Do what you will to your setup,  then move into an adjacent room and see how things sound.  It works!

Which is the most important part of a stereo system?

Please see https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 and read the description wherein it says: "The System is built around the philosophy that everything matters. Everything either contributes or detracts, and no one single component is any more or less important than any other."

But hey, don't take my word for it. Check it out and see for yourself. Just try and play your system without a power cord. See how it sounds without power. Or speaker cables. Measure the sound output without speakers, without source. Pretty sure you will find they all measure the same: zero. 

Which is what you will have if you follow the advice to put all your money into a source- or speakers, or any other component for that matter. They are all equally important. They all need to be good. 

Which is not to say expensive. We all have our budgets. Within which everything should perform very nearly equally well. No weak links. If, and its a very important if, sound quality really is what you want.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled misinformation.

Thanks guys!

Can you recommend a good turntable in the $1800 range and an preamp and amp with a built in DAC in the $4800 range?

TIA

Here is a prior thread in which this question was discussed at length:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/what-is-most-important-part-of-a-system

I stated as follows in that thread:

Do not expect any consensus among the answers which will be provided, or among the answers that have been provided about similar questions that were asked in the past.

Some will say the source is most important, because its shortcomings cannot be compensated for by any of the downstream components. I dispute that rationale, for two reasons:

1)That logic ignores the DEGREE to which different types of components may have shortcomings.

2)The source can’t compensate for the shortcomings of the downstream components either.

Some will say the speakers, because in general they (and their interaction with the room) arguably make the biggest difference in the character of the sound that is heard.

Others will say the preamp, contending that it is "the heart of the system."

My own answer, expressed in general terms, is that a chain is as strong as its weakest link, wherever that link may happen to be located in a particular system.

And more specifically my own perspective leans in the direction of "speakers first," but to a greater or lesser degree depending on how "important" is defined (especially the degree to which price is reflected in that definition), and depending on whether the source is analog or digital, and depending on the degree to which the particular listener values deep bass extension and the ability of the system to handle recordings having particularly wide dynamic range.

Re the last sentence, the listener’s preference for deep bass extension and the ability to handle recordings having very wide dynamic range (especially in terms of being able to cleanly reproduce brief high volume dynamic peaks, such as frequently occur in many classical symphonic recordings that have been engineered with minimal or no dynamic compression), can dramatically influence the cost of speakers, for a given level of quality.

The bottom line, IMO: Don’t make decisions based on generalities. Consider and ask about the specifics of your particular equipment, as you are now doing.

Good luck. Regards,

--Al

Thanks Al!

Lots of good info here!