Rodney gold
Im just me...
Room and speakers , room 1st...
Which component has the biggest effect on the sound?
- Thread starter dolfan
- Start date
Jackimvestor
pfm Member
I agree that speakers are the most important if you start from scratch.
But if you already have a well balanced system that works fine with your listening room, and you would like to upgrade to better quality sound, than I would say change source/pre before amp and speaker.
If a change in speaker is under consideration than a change in amp should also be considered.
But if you already have a well balanced system that works fine with your listening room, and you would like to upgrade to better quality sound, than I would say change source/pre before amp and speaker.
If a change in speaker is under consideration than a change in amp should also be considered.
Ozi2
Veteran Member
It depends how good are the rest of the components. You cannot make this kind of statement without any relation. It also depends if you are starting from scratch, or upgradeing. So much things for think and people always make mistakes because they simplify things where is not a good idea to do so.
Whaleblue
Southbound
Do you find yourself in agreement with all speakers, or just your own?
YNWOAN
100% Analogue
Mostly disagree - but at least you didn't say the speakers.
Just seen this pearl of wisdom:
Give me strength, I've read everything now - I particularly like the nonsense that cable choice is more important than the quality of the input!
Whaleblue
Southbound
If placement is important, surely room is important by definition?
I mean, what are you placing relative too?
Hook
Blackbeard's former bo'sun.
In most cases, your room just is what it is. Very few of us move house, or launch major remodeling projects just to make our music listening more enjoyable.
Speakers either play your room well or they don't. Treatments can help, but they aren't a magical fix. Speakers still have to be a good fit (especially when it comes to bass reproduction), or nothing else can work well. But once that fit is achieved, and you have a well-functioning stereo setup, then the next question is where do you spend your (limited) upgrade dollars?
If you can't afford to upgrade everything, then I believe you still can't go wrong by improving your source first. And yes, digital sources have improved a lot over the last few years, and high quality playback is achievable on a modest budget. Put another way, the law of diminishing returns now applies strongly to digital playback. But vinyl playback remains much more of a "you get what you pay for" world. IME, more expensive turntables, arms, carts and phono stages produce more beautiful sound, and there are very few shortcuts around this.
Hook
Speakers either play your room well or they don't. Treatments can help, but they aren't a magical fix. Speakers still have to be a good fit (especially when it comes to bass reproduction), or nothing else can work well. But once that fit is achieved, and you have a well-functioning stereo setup, then the next question is where do you spend your (limited) upgrade dollars?
If you can't afford to upgrade everything, then I believe you still can't go wrong by improving your source first. And yes, digital sources have improved a lot over the last few years, and high quality playback is achievable on a modest budget. Put another way, the law of diminishing returns now applies strongly to digital playback. But vinyl playback remains much more of a "you get what you pay for" world. IME, more expensive turntables, arms, carts and phono stages produce more beautiful sound, and there are very few shortcuts around this.
Hook
dave
Plywood King
I'm waiting for the make and model of this magical unit so I can PM Paul Darwin to tell Roy, Terry and the boys it's time to pack it up and call it a day.
davidsrsb
pfm Member
But some of us, having suffered badly once, think about this when moving
wise words!
Rodney gold
Im just me...
I cannot believe that there are some out there that say the room is irrelevant or inconsequential..you can change whatever hifi component you like , you will NEVER get rid of room nodes , reflections and the like.
DevillEars
Dedicated ignorer of fashion
We should re-read the question posed in the title line:
"Which component has the biggest effect on the sound?"
Next we should probably qualify this in terms of context - one, in any given total system; or two, when looking to upgrade any component; or three, when buying a new system from scratch.
In context one, the question is purely academic.
In context two, where a component upgrade is indicated, there are other factors to be considered such as overall system balance to identify any "weak link", budget available, etc.
In context three, where one is looking to assemble a complete system, then the speakers, then amp, then source logic needs to be applied.
This thread has, so far, had people responding variously under each context.
The room tends to be a given - one aspect that is semi-fixed unless moving house or if one is prepared to invest in infrastructure modifications. As has been noted, the room is probably the biggest single influencing factor as its acoustic properties re standing wave nodes, side reflections and potential - in small rooms - for boundary reinforcement will definitely influence speaker performance/selection at the very least.
Yes, there are DSP solutions that can counteract room-related issues, but these tend to operate within the digital domain only and, I for one, am not prepared to feed my vinyl through any ADC/DSP/DAC sequence in order to fix a room problem via signal-bending. For those who only have a digital source strategy, this route has much to offer.
"Which component has the biggest effect on the sound?"
Next we should probably qualify this in terms of context - one, in any given total system; or two, when looking to upgrade any component; or three, when buying a new system from scratch.
In context one, the question is purely academic.
In context two, where a component upgrade is indicated, there are other factors to be considered such as overall system balance to identify any "weak link", budget available, etc.
In context three, where one is looking to assemble a complete system, then the speakers, then amp, then source logic needs to be applied.
This thread has, so far, had people responding variously under each context.
The room tends to be a given - one aspect that is semi-fixed unless moving house or if one is prepared to invest in infrastructure modifications. As has been noted, the room is probably the biggest single influencing factor as its acoustic properties re standing wave nodes, side reflections and potential - in small rooms - for boundary reinforcement will definitely influence speaker performance/selection at the very least.
Yes, there are DSP solutions that can counteract room-related issues, but these tend to operate within the digital domain only and, I for one, am not prepared to feed my vinyl through any ADC/DSP/DAC sequence in order to fix a room problem via signal-bending. For those who only have a digital source strategy, this route has much to offer.