What to change to change HIFI sound

[BLACK_MAGIC]

Ok Say you have a normal Hifi system which consists of cd player, pre amp, amp and speakers and you don't like or want a change to the way your music sounds. What component would you change to have the most dramatic effect to the sound?
I know most people will say change the lot but I was always under the impression that a cd player was needed just for accurate playback and won't effect the sound a such eg warm, bright etc. A pre amp should actually do nothing to sound whatsoever and the amp should do nothing to the sound at all except amplify it to the speakers. Leading me to believe that changing speakers will probably have the largest effect on the sytems overall sound. Is this correct?
Thanks.

[jmorrell]

I would agree that the speakers have a big affect.

However a pre, power, and cd player will all affect it in a big way...I changed my pre-amp and it made a huge difference...

[shahedz]

good question, i have notices a huge improvement when i added a deciated music amp instead of using my Av amp . also in the past year i have changed CD player 3 times , and have noticed a huge change everytime, i have not changed my speakers ever, i think everything has an effect, but you can manipulate what effect you want by changing specific components that make up the system

[Dr.EM]

Affecting the tonal response, like you say warm or bright, speakers defnately have the biggest impact. The rest is more detail, clarity and noise levels.

[Knightshade]

Originally Posted by BLACK_MAGIC

Ok Say you have a normal Hifi system which consists of cd player, pre amp, amp and speakers and you don't like or want a change to the way your music sounds. What component would you change to have the most dramatic effect to the sound?
I know most people will say change the lot but I was always under the impression that a cd player was needed just for accurate playback and won't effect the sound a such eg warm, bright etc. A pre amp should actually do nothing to sound whatsoever and the amp should do nothing to the sound at all except amplify it to the speakers. Leading me to believe that changing speakers will probably have the largest effect on the sytems overall sound. Is this correct?
Thanks.

Oh, if it were that simple......
Whatever you change will have an effect to some degree.
Racks have an effect, rooms have an effect, moving the speakers closer to or further from a wall has an effect. All this and I haven't even mentioned electronic equipment. Obviously it's all part of the fun..... The trick is to get the balance right.
My personal philosophy is to start from the source and work down the list to the speakers. Then start tweaking room, racks, etc.
One of the more noticable improvements i've made is a good isolation rack and a large rug. This actually made quite a big improvement especially at higher volumes.
The single biggest changes have usually been with CDP's and DAC's, oh and bi amping and active..... Not always for the best.

[Londondecca]

The biggest difference you can make is to change the acoustics of the room. I wish someone had told me this 20 years ago, I would have saved a lot of time, money and effort

[karkus30]

Originally Posted by Londondecca

The biggest difference you can make is to change the acoustics of the room. I wish someone had told me this 20 years ago, I would have saved a lot of time, money and effort

Yes, thats exactly my take on it. As far as components go then the speakers have the greatest affect, followed by the amplifier (particularly the pre amp) and then the Source. But, you are talking the 'most dramatic' affect, the reality is different and impossible to quantify. If you have 20 grands worth of amp and speakers and you have an acoustically perfect room, then feeding it with a cheap DVD/CD player will probably be pretty naff, so the greatest improvement would then be the source.