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

Goodness WillieWonky, you must surely have your tongue in both cheeks.

Possibly in order to sell his turntable which at that time was his only product, Ivor Tiefenbrun used to say the source was crucial - garbage in, garbage out.  Indeed, since he made more money out of the TTs that Linn made themselves (unlike their arms and cartridges made in Japan), he said the TT is the most crucial.

Not sure I go with Ivor there, but there must surely be truth in this source doctrine since a poor music signal can never be corrected by the down-line components.  Indeed the errors will be amplified and rendered truthfully in all their ugliness by the best amplifiers and speakers.

But all the posts above ignore one very big element - component matching.  It is essential to see the system as holistic.  It's no good buying a string of top-price, well-reviewed pieces and just assuming they will work well together.

Nice relevant article on “setup”:

https://news.google.com/articles/CBMiZGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LndoYXRoaWZpLmNvbS9hZHZpY2UvdGhpbmdzLXRoYXQtbWF...

I find that the sound changes when I eat red or black licorice. It’s much cheaper than swapping cables.

The poster said he was good with the amp/preamp and speakers. Still about half the responses referred to these in some form or fashion, jeeeeezzzz. Read the post and respond accordingly. Answer is source. Clearthinker noted the garbage in garbage out analogy. A more succinct statement does not exist. Not necessarily the TT in all cases but the answer is the source you're using. BTW, all of the do-hickeys and thing-a-ma-bobs down the line all together have a <10% effect on  results (this does not include room acoustics as well as set up and placement). As for all the salespersons touting their amps and speakers, always remember "One mans floor is another mans ceiling". AB

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.