A mistake spending too much on amplification?

Guess pretty much has been covered and you've got some good responses. You have to ask yourself what 'improvements' are you after before deciding on your next step. In my opinion, you have realized that you have outpaced your speakers in the selection of amps, and that may be well true. You have to realize that even after getting a substantially better pair of speakers, it is very likely you may still find your current amp lacking, and you then need to go searching for a matching amp again. As you have known, this is a never-ending process in the quest of audio nirvana. Now you can consider getting some new speakers.

Electromechanical components (cartridges and speakers) will always have the greatest effect on sound. And of those two, speakers, having to also transduce between mechanical motion and air motion (plus the unknown room interactions) have the biggest variability in sound reproduction.

Simple thought experiment.

Which will sound better:

1) $1000 integrated amp + $10,000 speakers

OR

2) $10,000 integrated amp + $1000 speakers

If you think #2, then you have been brainwashed by the audio mags.

Always spend your money on speakers first. Buy the best you can afford. When time and money permits, you can try ‘better’ electronics. You may be able to the tell the difference or not, and you can then make an informed decision whether or not you should make the upgrade. If your speakers aren’t ‘good enough’, then you will have no idea if swapping out the electronics or front end components is worthwhile.

For car racing, you can talk about suspension and motor and brakes, blah, blah, blah. In the end, it’s ALL about the tires.

For audio, it’s ALL about the speakers.

Cutting to the chase here, in my opinion speakers make the most difference.

Could not agree more with this statement. $2K on speakers and more than $10K on amps, source, interconnects & speaker cables is a typical but much misguided approach in audiophiledom. At the very least, half the system cost is best spent on the speakers, IMHO.

All of this talk about speakers vs electronic's and the ratio of costs between the two leaves me feeling like I just had a Chinese lunch! Hell, its not even an hour later and I'm hungry again! :-)

Speakers are the BIG deal. Best speakers you can afford - absolutely. BUT, and this is no small BUT, when selecting the speaker you must consider not only the quality of its signal but its frequency response.

You can buy a high quality speaker with roll off starting at 45hz and power it with a high quality amp at one price ratio but the ratio changes dramatically if you buy speakers which are 'flat' to 20hz (very expensive) but can be driven by the same electronics as the speakers that roll off at 45hz. And the obverse is true as well.

Ratios, spatios........Its all about a synergistic system, including the source(s). You can actually pay more for a source than an amp or speakers, boy is that out of whack or what! :-)

There's an old idiom that says "There's more than one way to skin a cat". In other words, there is more than one way to accomplish a particular feat. In your case the "feat" is to get noticibly better (different) sound. To date you've tried to accomplish this by replacing electronics in the amplification chain and it has apparently not worked for you.

There's an old definition of the word "insanity" that stated: "Doing the same thing over and over again and expection different results".

OK, now that I've called you insane (aren't we all), lets get to the point. You've given us very little information. We know the speakers you own and they are of high quality. We know the amps and pre-amps that you own and they are of various price, but you've determined that it doesn't make a significant difference. What we don't know is anything about your room or what source component you are using. This is important because both can be significantly "bad" enough to prevent you from hearing the differences in amplification and speakers. It is entirely possible that no amount of money or component changes is going to allow you to attain your sonic goals.

I would highly recommend that you tell us a little about your listening space, your musical preferences and the source components that you've used.

Speaking of another way to skin a cat, my current system is inversely porportional in expenditure vs the common philosophy generally recommend here. My most expensive component is my digital source, second is my amplification and my least expensive component is my speakers. Additionally my system has become less complex and less expensive over time, however it has improved sonically IMHO.

Here is the price breakdown (all purchased used) of my current system:

CD player $1000
Amp $600
Speakers $400

I've owned systems with a list price of $10,000+ and my current $2000 system is superior in every respect. Maybe it's a better match for my small-medium room or it has better component synergy. Regardless of the reason, it sound better to me and it has freed up more than $10,000 in cash......

Enjoy,

TIC