90% of Reproduced Sound Quality Comes From . . .

[mmakshak]

The source

I know this is probably the wrong place to post this, but you wouldn't believe how the speakers sound changed between 3 different battery packs to power my pre/dac(which is meant to be plugged into the wall). That is one reason why I believe in the source first. The sound from the speakers changed tremendously.

 

[Paul Spencer]

The problem is that modest electronics can’t be “correctly and fully sorted out” because:

A. No one knows what the hell that really means.
B. Modest electronics will sound modest becaused they were designed to sound modest.

Taking a cheap amp and soldering the power cord to the wall socket and well as soldering the speaker cables directly to the output devices won’t change the intrinsic quality of the amplifier.

A. I think it's much more likely that you don't know what that means, not that no one does. If we consider the complete body of knowledge in the audio field, then a very good system could be put together with a relatively modest investment in electronics and a not quite so modest investment in speakers and the room. The problem is not so much that our knowledge is flawed, but that most of what is known is often not used, or not well used. There is also a great deal that does not filter down into the understanding of the average enthusiast.

B. I can't agree. I think it's fair to say that modest electronics are designed to be as good as possible for the price. Do they deliberately dumb things down where they could make the modest electronics better? I doubt it.