I'm old school - recording/source/pre/power/speaker in that order. Let me add some reasoning...
If the recording sucks, nothing you do afterwards can ever make it better.
If the source (turntable/cd/tuner/cassette) doesn't pull every ounce of music off the recording, and do it in a good way, then the recording, even if a good one, will sound not as good as it could on a better source setup.
You need a solid preamp to make use of the good recording and data, if the preamp starts losing some of the data, then anything down the track (power amp/speaker) can't make it up.
Power amp probably isn't critical, but I've placed it ahead of speakers for one reason - it has to be able to DRIVE the speakers. A 5 watt SET would struggle with a 86db 4ohm load set of speakers for a variety of reasons. Same said amp with a 92db 8ohm speaker would sing (load wise). Good speakers coupled to a bad power amp that can't drive them properly will never sing as good as they have the potential to.
speakers came last for all the reasons above. If all of the above components are good, and you have even mediocre speakers, the odds are they'll still sing nicely. Maybe not as good as is possible with more expensive speakers, but they'll still sound pretty good imho. Better speakers will have more detail, smoother top end, deeper bass, better soundstanging, etc than their cheaper counterparts as a rule. Not always, but generally speaking.
I'd like to see a separate pre amp section as well - sadly, most people don't seem to go the pre/power route for a variety of reasons - space, money, simply don't see the need, complexity, and so on and so forth. Since pres aren't really super popular, there's less talk about them, and that means the mods/admins have to make a decision on whether a sub forum would get sufficient traffic to warrant having it in the first place.
Dave
I must be missing something, how is a analog preamp going to loose data? Unless were are talking digital, or bad connections. On a purely electronics level, if were are talking about deviating the original signal waveform, or even perhaps data loss as you have suggested- wouldn't a physical device like a speaker have more of a chance for 'error' or deviation? Let alone the sound waves floating into the room.
Good source material is a given I would assume.
I understand the importance of a good preamp, or perhaps the proper matching of components-to me very important.
I think the problem you run into with speakers, is that unless they are really bad, our ears become accustomed to how they sound, we adjust. Being accustomed to how they sound isn't the same as sounding good. Let alone listening fatigue and the like.
A side by side comparision (yes I know about level matching, etc) can tell you what your missing with a mediocre set. Of course this assumes each speaker is being properly driven by the amp.
To me, even with a modest system, the matching of components, their true compatibilty, is probably more important than a specific preamp., or perhaps speakers as well, as you suggest.
Having said this, I still think the speakers have the biggest potential of really making your system sound good, or mediocre.
Classic case for me- I thought my good old Omega 300's sounded pretty darn good back in the day, till I heard a set of Large Advents, driven by the same receiver, not side by side, but at a freinds house. Clearly better sounding with real bass.
I think both sets of speakers were properly driven by the SX-750's, or at least close.
Thats when I knew the importance of good speakers. Perhaps I was mistaken earlier in saying they were the most important component, but I can't imagine they are any less important than a preamp.
I do know, that once you go up in system resolution and component price, each component becomes more critical, their matching more essential, it's fine tuning. Again it won't make a medioce speaker sound any better, you might think it does till you hear a different speaker plugged into your system.
In the end, I think alot of it is apples and oranges-perhaps it's not the preamp you are looking for, it's a better speaker. Or maybe it is the preamp. Again component matching. And one has to add your listening room as well, another important component. Perhaps those speakers you think should sound good, in reality will never sound as good as you want given your listening room size, shape, distance, etc, even though you have the right electronics driving them.
