qguy wrote:Jadis,
in your opinion, what is the most important component in the system ?
Loudspeaker, Amp or Source
You just struck the nail on the head....The best question for an
audio buff---WHERE to spend most on your system, or where to put
your attention in system matching. This is also the most controversial
question for an audiophile. Many will have diff views and debates, and
in the end, it is about subjectivity. I would first venture to say that
ALL components are important. That is the reason why we are in
high end, bec ALL component change matters. Each change
exhibits small to dramatic improvements. Really, if there is a
ranking of importance, the margin will be so small, really small.
Imo, I would put the loudspeaker first. I have talked to a lot
of audiophiles and even audio designers, and they agree. One
designer went on to say that the difference between any two
loudspeakers in the market is very very huge. So most important
of all, an audiophile MUST determine what kind of loudspeaker is
best suited for his musical TASTE. Rock music lovers simply cannot
live with a Quad ESL electrostatic. One bang and they will die. Neither
can they live with a Rogers LS3/5a. They need something big, and
efficient, and in auditioning, they will know what kind of speakers
are suited for their music. This said, the next thing to do is to find
an amp that will MATCH the speakers. The criterion here would be
finding out if the speakers are efficient or not, then matching it
with amps that will satisfy this parameter. For example, the Apogee
Ribbons mostly will only be driven properly to satisfying levels with
high powered solid state amps, most notably Krells; and I saw in many
hi end shows these two being used together, bec the Apogee tend to
go down to 2 or 1 ohm load, creating a heavy demand for the amp.
So if you will mate them with, say, a Quicksilver 60 watter, or a
Marantz 20 watter, then I believe this marriage will not last a day.
It almost appears that mating the speakers and amps is one
thing. They should share the level of importance. After that, I would
put the pre-amp next. To me, I feel it gives the 'flavor' to the speaker-amp marriage. I feel my JPL line stage is the 'heart' of my system.
Each time I change a different tube brand, the flavor of the sound
changes from lush to neutral, and vice versa. Very easy to detect the
difference in nuances. Such a flexible pre-amp is a plus in one's system,
where one can decide the 'tone' of the sound through tube matching
to the system. It is almost like having an 'equalizer' in the sound chain.
An honest equalizer to tune down harshness or to increase transparency.
It may be unthinkable to put the source component to the last
place, and I really would not want to see it that way or to put it that
way but since we are addressing an objective question, we have to.
That is not to say the source is the least important of all. We know
the saying garbage in garbage out. The source can be placed even
at the top of the importance pile. But for me, if we place the best
source component and run it thru a mismatched amp-speaker combo, we
will get nowhere. Spend 1.5m of the latest ML DAC-Transport combo,
and run them thru a bad combo wherein the speakers will not be
driven to reasonably loud levels, and we will not be happy. I think
my point is, once we solve the amp-speaker mystery, it is easier
to find a decent sounding source, which is a plenty. Whether you are
a rock or classical, or jazz or vocal lover, the source will not give you
trouble, in terms of choosing any brand or even the mode of the source( CD or turntable). But, if you are a rock fan, certainly you will have
trouble if you unknowingly bring home a Quad ESL electrostat instead
of say a Dynaudio or B&W speakers. This is where things get wrong.
And for the rock music lover, even if he buys a B&W speaker but
matches it with like a 20watt amp, he again, will be in trouble. Either
the amp will bomb out, or the tweeters will burn. This a common
story that audio technicians always love to tell.