The $3K all in exercize.

[Norton]

OK probably busts the $3k mark a little at rrp, but in the spirit of the exercise:

 

Chord Mojo

Lehman Audio Stamp (or other budget low power SS amp)

Klipsch Heresy III

[Norton]

Half your money into the DAC seems ridiculous to me, unless you intend to spend a lot more on your speakers later.

 

+1

 

Speakers have the largest influence on SQ. I'd keep the LS50s in the spec. and go for a cheaper DAC (Ifi micro or a Chord Mojo maybe) for now.

 

Whilst there may be endless forum posts about DACs, IME the variation in sound between different speakers is massive compared to that between DACs, even when comparing entry level to high end examples of the latter. I especially wouldn't change my plans on the basis of a single review of a DAC I haven't heard.

[Norton]

I agree with your position and follow the philosophy of Ivor Tiefenbrun (founder of Linn) who was one of the first advocates of the importance of getting the source right and developed the legendary Sondek LP12 turntable in the late 1970s.

 

That's certainly been the prevailing philosophy at dealers here in the UK at least and it has a certain obvious logic, until you apply the constraints of making compromises within a tight budget. Put simply it could be argued that there are much bigger SQ improvements to be had going from £500 to £2000 speakers than the same price comparison with a source, especially with current digital equipment. GIGO makes a lazy assumption that a cheaper source is garbage, rather than just being at a slightly different place on the same scale as a more expensive component.

 

Thus on a limited budget, 30% better speakers give a better net result than a 10% better source.

[Norton]

I'm not clear on such gradations of quality, as a "10% better source" probably means something different to each of us.

 

Does that matter providing the customer perceives it as such? If I'm paying the bill and think something is 10% vs. 30% better should I care whether anyone else does?