Where to spend to get maximum audio quality on a system at a given price

[Jud]

I agree with mayhem , speakers is the only way your going to hear the quality of your source equipment, unless you can plug your cables into your head like some robot.

 

If you spend very little proportionally on the rest of your system other than speakers, then you may have a situation where you are "going to hear the quality of your source equipment," and that may not be good.

 

The only way I know how to buy audio equipment is the same way I shop for things other than audio equipment: Identify what will get you the quality you want at a price you can afford, rather than allotting strict percentages or relative costs.

 

Going through my system, I'm all over the lot on where I've spent my money:

 

MacBook Pro: I already owned it before I knew it could be used for audio. So I think it's fair to say this one was free in terms of audio-dedicated spending. Or to put it another way - I haven't gone out and looked at other front ends, in spite of recommendations for various appliances, Linux or Windows machines, C.A.P.S., etc.

 

External (music) drive: 2TB, Firewire 800, I think about $150 if I remember right.

 

Firewire cable: $30

 

USB cable between MBP and DAC: Got a deal and a discount on top of it, $180 ($100 below list).

 

DAC: Replaced my old $2000 DAC with a new $450 DAC that sounds better.

 

Cables between DAC and preamp: I'm guessing between $200-$300 for the pair when I bought them almost 20 years ago.

 

Preamp: Around $2700 new almost 20 years ago.

 

Cables between preamp and amp: If I remember right, when I bought them 10-12 years ago, they were probably $125-$150 for the pair.

 

Amp: Bought it used for around $2700.

 

Power conditioning: MIT Z-Stabilizer and Z-Strip, $400 total when I bought them used 15-20 years ago.

 

Speaker cables: Around $700 for the used pair and jumpers. Sound better than a biwired set they replaced, that cost around $500 about 20 years ago.

 

Speakers: Around $1280 about 20 years ago, plus Sound Anchors stands that raised the total to slightly over $1400 if I remember right. I've never heard anything I could reasonably afford sound better, so I've stuck with them and have no present plans to replace them.

 

So my speakers are just below 16% of the cost of my present system. And I am thinking of perhaps auditioning a couple of new DACs in the $1500 range when the maker of my current DAC comes out with its top of the line model around the end of this year or the beginning of the next, which would reduce the speakers' share to about 14% (if I think the new DAC sounds that much better than the old one).