most important component to great sound

[pewternhrata]

what is your opinion on the most important component in achieving excellent sound? speakers (drivers or crossover components) receiver, source, cables or other?
all else aside im sure pairing "like" components together also plays a big part

mostly interested in thoughts on this as far as 2 channel set-ups go.

 

[ImcLoud]

I feel in a home theater your front 3 are the soul of the system, and next the subwoofer. Then the AVR and last the effect speakers...

In a music system speakers are the most important to me, and I like different things for different music...

 

[Grador]

Really every single part of the system is equally important, if any one part in the chain is subpar you'll get subpar results.

That said it's very difficult to find a subpar amplifier, preamp, or source. Speakers are where you find the greatest variation in quality, so that is where selection is most important.

 

[templemaners]

Speakers.

/end thread

 

[zieglj01]

Set up everything minus the speakers, then tell me what you hear.

 

[tstan7777]

Set up everything minus the speakers, then tell me what you hear.

Well, sometimes my dvd player makes some curious noises....if that counts.

 

[pewternhrata]

what overall makes a great speaker? driver selection, crossover components, cabinet build, and so on? what really does say B&W do different other than a typical JBL or infinity? i know each speaker has a different sound and to each their own (as the listener)

 

[Grador]

what overall makes a great speaker? driver selection, crossover components, cabinet build, and so on?

Yes, that is correct.

 

[slipperybidness]

Speakers. Then quality of recording (and mixing), then source. In general, it's a photo finish on the other components.

 

[shadyJ]

If you really want to know, the articles to read are Audioholic's Identifying Legitimately High Fidelity Loudspeakers series: crossovers, drivers, cabinets, and cost-cutting design choices. There are a lot of other good articles in Audioholic's AV University, if you are truly interested in identifying good speakers, I recommend you take a look at some of those.

 

[sterling shoote]

what is your opinion on the most important component in achieving excellent sound? speakers (drivers or crossover components) receiver, source, cables or other?
all else aside im sure pairing "like" components together also plays a big part

mostly interested in thoughts on this as far as 2 channel set-ups go.

The component is not important to me if it can be removed from the chain without consequence. If the component can be replaced with an upgrade product without recognition of an audible benefit the upgrade is not important to me. In my history with hi-fi, which goes back to 1972, the most significant (audible) gains have been made with turntable/cartridge, speaker/sub, and CD player upgrades, in that order.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

The most important thing is the quality of the recording. A good recording can sound great on a budget system but a terrible recording will sound bad on all systems. Then the speakers followed closely by the environment they are in. (room & placement)

As far as speaker building goes... Driver selection and crossover design go hand in hand as #1 on the overall quality list.

All of this is an over simplification of course.

 

[FirstReflection]

Really? No one has mentioned the correct answer yet?

The most important component in any sound system is...

THE ROOM!

The room is a full 50% of any sound system. All other components are just a portion of the remaining 50%/

Put any equipment you like in a tile bathroom - it's gonna sound like crap! Pay attention to room acoustics, treat the room, and position everything carefully, and inexpensive gear can sound far better than expensive, objectively better gear that's being hampered by the room it's in.

So:

#1: The Room
#2: Speakers
#3: Source Quality (I'm talking about the recording quality here, not the playback device)
#3a: Playback Device - but only if it's analogue. If it's a digital output, it's either perfect or broken, so it doesn't even make the list.
#4: Signal manipulation (room correction, EQ, listening modes, DSP, etc.)
#5: Amps

 

[PENG]

The most important thing is the quality of the recording. A good recording can sound great on a budget system but a terrible recording will sound bad on all systems. Then the speakers followed closely by the environment they are in. (room & placement)

As far as speaker building goes... Driver selection and crossover design go hand in hand as #1 on the overall quality list.

All of this is an over simplification of course.

Yup, that's why I started that thread to collect a list of albums to buy/collect.

 

[PENG]

Really? No one has mentioned the correct answer yet?

The most important component in any sound system is...

THE ROOM!

The room is a full 50% of any sound system. All other components are just a portion of the remaining 50%/

Put any equipment you like in a tile bathroom - it's gonna sound like crap! Pay attention to room acoustics, treat the room, and position everything carefully, and inexpensive gear can sound far better than expensive, objectively better gear that's being hampered by the room it's in.

So:

#1: The Room
#2: Speakers
#3: Source Quality (I'm talking about the recording quality here, not the playback device)
#3a: Playback Device - but only if it's analogue. If it's a digital output, it's either perfect or broken, so it doesn't even make the list.
#4: Signal manipulation (room correction, EQ, listening modes, DSP, etc.)
#5: Amps

For me, your #3 would be my #1, but I also think that is the case if one has a decent 2 channel system, one that is perhaps considered at or close enough to the point of diminishing return. For entry level systems, I would agree with your order or priority/importance.

 

[Steve81]

I think FR answered the original question as well as I could hope to, so I don't have much to contribute there, so I'll move on to the next:

what overall makes a great speaker? driver selection, crossover components, cabinet build, and so on? what really does say B&W do different other than a typical JBL or infinity? i know each speaker has a different sound and to each their own (as the listener)

As mentioned, all the items you list are critical in building a great speaker, but before you get, there, first and foremost you need design goals (and the competence to reach those goals). Clearly the person who designed this speaker:

SoundStage! Measurements - Zu Cable Druid Loudspeakers (9/2002)

and this speaker

SoundStage! Measurements - PSB Image T45 Loudspeakers (7/2006)

had very different ideas of what a loudspeaker should be doing in the first place. This is going to make a far more fundamental difference in the way two speakers sound than anything else.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Really? No one has mentioned the correct answer yet?

The most important component in any sound system is...

THE ROOM!

The room is a full 50% of any sound system. All other components are just a portion of the remaining 50%/

Put any equipment you like in a tile bathroom - it's gonna sound like crap! Pay attention to room acoustics, treat the room, and position everything carefully, and inexpensive gear can sound far better than expensive, objectively better gear that's being hampered by the room it's in.

So:

#1: The Room
#2: Speakers
#3: Source Quality (I'm talking about the recording quality here, not the playback device)
#3a: Playback Device - but only if it's analogue. If it's a digital output, it's either perfect or broken, so it doesn't even make the list.
#4: Signal manipulation (room correction, EQ, listening modes, DSP, etc.)
#5: Amps

Tile bathrooms aside, the room isn't the most important factor for most systems in average rooms. I suppose that in many rooms bass quality is directly affected by room modes, but even that's only true for some recordings, the ones with significant bass below about 60Hz. The quality of the direct sound from the speakers is going to be more important than the average room in determining playback quality. The test is, which would you rather have, a suboptimal room or suboptimal speakers? I'll take the suboptimal room. (I have one.)

Given that the recording and the speakers are really just the opposite sides of the same coin, IMO they have to be called equal. Fortunately most commercial recordings are pretty good, so it could be speakers are more important in practical terms, but I'll be the first to admit great recordings can make a system sound better than it really is. This is the indicator of two factors that are close to being equal; you can argue either case.

I agree with the ordering of the other factors.

 

[PENG]

Tile bathrooms aside, the room isn't the most important factor for most systems in average rooms. I suppose that in many rooms bass quality is directly affected by room modes, but even that's only true for some recordings, the ones with significant bass below about 60Hz. The quality of the direct sound from the speakers is going to be more important than the average room in determining playback quality. The test is, which would you rather have, a suboptimal room or suboptimal speakers? I'll take the suboptimal room. (I have one.)

Given that the recording and the speakers are really just the opposite sides of the same coin, IMO they have to be called equal. Fortunately most commercial recordings are pretty good, so it could be speakers are more important in practical terms, but I'll be the first to admit great recordings can make a system sound better than it really is. This is the indicator of two factors that are close to being equal; you can argue either case.

I agree with the ordering of the other factors.

I find with the room thing, people often seem to exaggerate their views/opinions to make their points. It is really hard to rank the importance of it. As you said, in a tiled bathroom could be bad, even with your Salon 2 regardless of how well its off axis performance is.

Regarding recording quality vs speakers, I could probably find examples to show a pair of say F52 playing the high quality recordings can sound better than a pair of Salon 2 playing average quality ones everything else being equal and both examples uesed being CDs. That's just my opinion based on experience. Now, the reverse would likely be true if the speakers used in comparison are say F12 and Salon 2.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Put any equipment you like in a tile bathroom - it's gonna sound like crap! Pay attention to room acoustics, treat the room, and position everything carefully, and inexpensive gear can sound far better than expensive, objectively better gear that's being hampered by the room it's in.

Room and placement. If you sit very near field in the least reverberant area with the volume turned down...

Like I said all of this is over simplification.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I vote for Quality of recording as #1 as well.

Then the speakers.

Then the room and placement.

Then the AVR/ pre-pro actual setup - direct mode/ stereo 2.1 vs Audyssey, DSP, EQ.

I don't think room is number one based on my experience as well as from reading others experience (Siegfried Linkwitz, Dennis Murphy, AJ, and other members here).