[andrzejpw]

My dad and I are sort of having an argument. What's a general idea on buying components? My dad says 80% speakers, 20% amp, and what's left over for the source. (He says he'd spend about 200-300 on a cdp. What do you guys say? I'm sure source/amplification should be more important. . .

 

[Ctn]

I say 45% on speakers, 33% on amp, 17% on source and the leftover 5% for "quality" cables not for BS "sound enchancements" that dont exist.

I spent about 5000 Oz, roughly 2500 US.

This was pretty much how I spent my money on my system

And Im very happy with what it gave me.

I think value comes from the speakers and the amp. Thats where you notice the biggest difference in sound.

Given that, you need a good cheap source but not too cheap.

Cables is the mega grey area, I wont even go into that

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

I think balance, and synergy are much more important than percentages. But, a trend that I have seen over the years in high-end audio is the more expensive the system the higher the percentage should lean towards the electronics. The cheaper the system the higher the percentage should lean towards the speakers.

 

[MirandaX]

The 80%/20% rule is pretty old. Over the last two decades, speakers have improved at a much faster rate than amps. It used to be you needed to spend a huge amount to get good speakers; now you'd be surprised just how good a pair of speakers you can get for less than $500. IMHO, the percentage should be around 50% speakers / 50% source+amp these days.

I agree with your dad about source costs. $300 is a pretty reasonable amount for a source. If you pair this with a carefully selected set of $350 speakers, you could build a great system.

 

[Ctn]

Quote:

Originally posted by CRESCENDOPOWER I think balance, and synergy are much more important than percentages. But, a trend that I have seen over the years in high-end audio is the more expensive the system the higher the percentage should lean towards the electronics. The cheaper the system the higher the percentage should lean towards the speakers.

Well said. Too bad my pockets arent that deep for high end gear

 

[Hirsch]

My rule is at least 50% of available money on source, 50% on amplification, 50% on headphones, 50% on cabling/power conditioning...

 

[Poddy]

About 1/3 rd on each i usually budget for. Perhaps roll a bit more towards speakers depends on how everything is sounding together.

 

[dvr]

In "The complete guide to high-end audio", Robert Hawley (the editor of The Absolute Sound, I think) gave his suggestion on how to split your funds on a 6k system:

Pre-amp $1000
Amp $1200
Source $1300
Speakers $2000
Cables $500

He said $2000 was good for speakers because this was the point at which diminishing returns really kick in.

By the way, did anyone hear the Headroom Little powered by the Meridian at the Headroom show? Surprisingly good. It's certainly not the optimal split of funds, but if you switched things and fed a $3k amp by a $250 source, you wouldn't have come close to the same quality.

 

[andrzejpw]

Oh yeah, the little is amazing for the price. . .

 

[jopi]

I'd probably spend more on speakers at this time. SACD is still pretty new and I bet there will some huge technology leaps within the next two years that make whatever you buy now obsolete.
A decent speaker system will be a better investment.
I know you putting together your META, have you considered getting a speaker kit?

 

[sil0nt]

It all depends.. I was lucky enough to pick up some Michaura M55's from Ubid, and those only cost 100 dollars. My NAD C350 integrated amp cost 300.

I have to agree with MirandaX. You can get really good speakers today for very little money. But, you still need to invest a little more money to get a decent amp.

brian "25/75 speaks/amp"

 

[wasifazim]

Any rules to this effect would be entirely arbitrary..that said, I'd personally spend more on source than on power amp, and wouldn't spend a lot on a pre-amp.

- Wasif.

 

[Jim R]

Tell your dad he is wrong. I hate the percentage game but you are clearly right that 80/20 is not the way to go for a balanced system.

I also agree with the statement that the higher up you go on the audio chain, the more that should be spent on upstream components. My current system ($7000 or so) is 22% speakers, 32% amp, 25% CDP, 15% preamp, 6% cables (mostly because they are DIY silver cables where I only had to purchase materials).

If you have a limited budget, I would suggest you find a high bang for the buck speaker (maybe a kit like GR Research, a DIY speaker like Bottlehead Straight 8's or maybe something like Magnepan MMG's that they practically give away just to get you hooked) which would then allow you to increase your amp budget, etc.. In my opinion, on a limited budget it would be better to find the highest quality amp (probably an integrated amp, maybe used) and spend a little less on the CDP. I have usually found more improvement in better amps than in better CDP's (maybe this is just me though). Go the DIY route on cables (like Chris Venhaus cables).

 

[andrzejpw]

Where can i find info on the afformentioned speakers?

 

[Ctn]

If you want cheap diy floorstanders.

Try the DC-X from www.vaf.com.au.

Its pretty much the word in Oz for diy.