Building a system: order of choices and budget

Each link depends on the previous one. The speaker is the only component that physically interacts with the room: its sensitivity, impedance and bass extension determine the amplifier power required, which in turn determines the budget left for sources. Choosing the amplifier first means giving up those reference points.

Starting from the room instead sets objective constraints: the room volume dictates the speaker size it can support, the listening distance dictates the useful sensitivity, the surface materials dictate the reverberation level to compensate. These three data points eliminate two thirds of the market's options outright — that's a filter, not a limitation.

Simple rule: the speaker is the founding choice, the amplifier is a consequence of the speaker, the source is a consequence of your listening habits. Any purchase that reverses this order gets paid for later in costly workarounds.

Step 1 — The room and the listening position. Measure floor area and volume, identify the realistic listening position (not the one from the catalogue), note the dominant surface materials. A highly reverberant 15 m² room and a furnished 35 m² room call for neither the same speakers nor the same power.

Step 2 — The speakers. Choose them by listening, ideally in a room similar to yours, checking sensitivity (aim for 87 dB/W/m or more to stay free on amplification) and nominal impedance (avoid models dipping below 3.2 Ω with a modest amplifier).

Step 3 — Amplification. It follows from the speakers: useful power, current delivery if impedance is low, dynamic headroom. Step 4 — Sources, based on your real usage (streaming, CD, vinyl) rather than fashion. Step 5 — Cables and mains power, sized to the system. Step 6 — Optimisation: placement, targeted acoustic treatment, adjustments. This last step is free and often yields more than any purchase.

For a new stereo system, a proven split: 40 to 50% of the budget on speakers, 25 to 30% on amplification, 15 to 20% on the source or sources, 5 to 10% on cables, power and accessories. These proportions aren't dogma but a guardrail against the most common mistake: electronics that crush everything else.

Adjust for usage. Vinyl-focused system: shift 5 to 10% toward the turntable, cartridge and phono stage, because the analogue chain is less compressible. All-streaming system: the source can drop below 15%, as a good integrated streamer-DAC lasts a long time. Small listening room: push the speaker share toward 50-55%, since that's where most of the result is decided.

Always keep a reserve of 5 to 10% of the total budget for the optimisation phase: cables of the right length, stands, a few absorptive panels. An optimised €3,000 system almost always beats a €3,300 system placed at random.

Second-hand is particularly rational for speakers and amplification: robust components with steep depreciation (30 to 50% after a few years) and long service life. Caution applies to turntables (mechanical wear) and digital sources (service obsolescence, ageing connectors).

Buying in stages beats buying everything at once when the budget is tight: start with the speaker + amplifier pair, listen for a few months, then add sources. You'll learn the system's character before adding more variables.

For future resale, established brands with wide distribution hold their value better. A considered purchase resells; an impulse purchase is endured.

A system sounds at the level of its weakest link, not its best one. A €2,000 DAC behind entry-level speakers will add nothing audible; demanding speakers on an underpowered amplifier will sound strained and fatiguing. Balance doesn't mean equal prices but consistent performance levels.

Practical benchmark: a gap of more than two price tiers between two linked components (amp/speakers, source/amp) is almost always misplaced budget. Before adding a component well above the rest of the chain, ask which limiting link it will reveal.

The first step of an upgrade isn't a purchase: it's a diagnosis. Listen to recordings you know by heart and name the flaw precisely — boomy bass, harsh treble, narrow image, recessed vocals. Every flaw has a likely cause, and it isn't always the suspected component: boomy bass comes from placement more often than from the speaker itself.

Changing speakers while keeping the rest is the most transformative upgrade, but the riskiest: check that the new models' sensitivity and impedance stay within your amplifier's comfort zone (equal or higher sensitivity, no lower nominal impedance), and that their bass extension suits the room. Changing the amplifier is safer: as long as power and current delivery cover the speakers, almost anything is compatible.

For sources, compatibility is rarely an issue (standardised output levels): you can swap a DAC or add a streamer without touching anything else. Finally, before any purchase, exhaust the free optimisation: move the speakers 20 cm, adjust toe-in, treat first reflections. Many 'needs for change' disappear at this stage — and those that remain are then perfectly identified.