What is the most important component in an audio system?
This one stirs up a lot of arguments. The simple answer is that balance is the most important consideration – the entire setup, including the listening room should be optimized within the available budget. However, there is general agreement among experienced audiophiles, and it has certainly been my experience, that you have to get the starting point right. This means that you need to pay attention to the source component (the CD player, the DVD/BluRay player, the turntable, the audio output of the computer). If you get the music accurately from the source, a little lost resolution down the chain to the amplifier and speakers is tolerable. On the other hand, if you connect high resolution amplifiers and speakers to a poor source, youll hear exactly whats wrong with that source! Do vinyl records (LPs) really sound better than digital audio? It depends…. lets just say that a good vinyl pressing played on a well designed and set up turntable through a high quality phono amplifier does
