A mistake spending too much on amplification?

Unless you have difficult speakers power amps are relatively unimportant.Preamps are much more important because they bring focus and coherence.
Unfortunately most preamps are crap,and of course you don't come to realise this until you hear a really good one.For me this revelation came in the form of Supratek preamps.
I am currently running a $5000 US Supratek preamp with $400 kit chip power amp-and the sound is far superior to any other combo I have owned or used which contained expensive power amps used with ordinary preamps.[including ARC and Metaxas]

Not sure this is relevant, but I'm driving $1,400.00 monitor speakers with $11,000.00 worth of amp/pre-amp. Oh yeah, and $3,450.00 in wires. The system sounds superb and even though the speakers were supposed to be interim after selling my Harbeths, they're staying for a while.

Tomryan, now I know you've made up the statistics, and you're the only one as for now. That answered my earlier thread on whether anyone had their speaker wires more expensive than the speakers itself. http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?fcabl&1145029415&read&3&4&
Thanks for the tip and now I won't have to feel any remorse over spending 30% the cost of my speakers on wires. And I thought nobody would even touch 50%!!Cheers.

I agree with theabove about preamps, very important as it comes before the amp, also the source comes before the preamp, so it too is important. One of my systems is a vtl2.5 pre/Mac Mc 2751v into a pair of bookshelf B&W cm2(900/pr) fronted by a Linn Ikemi, they sit atop my Khorns, when I play it for people they say "man those Khorns sound great" I say i agree...except they are not on....their jaws drop.

Tweaking of power/inter/spk cables*,AC delivery-filtering-regeneration (very important),isolation products(dampers,cones,feet etc and CD treatments have yielded far more than a component switch in my experience. When the tweaks are done it makes it easier to hear the better piece shine or not if you will. As to a pre if you have sources/amp capable you need to try passive. Just try it. Sometimes less is more. A better power cord on my CDP took away silibance present in vocals. This was after trying several that did not take it away.

ET

The Dynaudio Focus 110s replaced $3,000.00 Harbeths which replaced $4,500.00 ProAcs. My room is quite small (11 x 13.5) and I now use a REL sub with very close attention to tuning. The Focuses (Foci?) were just to have something until I made deal on Cremonas or something other montitor in that price range. The 110s are performing so well that my search has slowed considerably. And I've never been a fan of Dynaudio speakers before - always a little clinical for my tastes. By the way, I use a Joule Electra LA150 pre and an EAR 890 tube amp.

Interconnects are all Cardas Golden Refs with TG Audio speakers cables. I am cursed with the ability to hear differences btw wires and cables - these are all more musical (to my ears) than Audience AU24s and Kimber Selects.

I actually really, really like the little 110s. They are more musical and engaging in my system and room than the ProAcs, Harbeths, Merlin TSM-MXs, Spendor 1/3s, Spendor 3/5s. I have not had SF Cremona Auditors for audition as I intended a few months ago but will probably do so. But last night Art Blakey, Gil Evans, and Pancho Sanchez sounded so damn good I'm serioulsy thinking about spending that money on more music.