Component cost as a percentage of system cost

Audio Systems
1

Following a recent discussion on whether to upgrade my source or speakers, a reply mentioned the relative costs of components.

What is the component cost as a percentage of overall cost in your system?

Mine is about:

Source 50%
Amplifier 39%
Speakers 9%
Cables 1%

2

Does the sound of your system please you every time you play music ? If yes, it is a good cost split in your case…
My system is source 35%, loudspeakers 23%, amplifier 22%, cables & accessories 20 %

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3

Hi

Speakers 65%
Amp 20%
Source 12.5%
Cables/Ancilleries 2.5%

In my opinion, the speakers and the setting are the biggest differentiators.

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4

Speaker: 46%
Source: 47%
Power: 5%
Cables/Other: 2%

If I looked at this another way, perhaps what it’s taken me to get to where I am, I might say:

Current System: 3%
All other expenses to get to current system: 97%
:wink:

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5

Current System: 3%
All other expenses to get to current system: 97%

It’s the journey that counts :joy:

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6

Certainly the journey that costs!

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7

I am still trying to reconstruct my audio equipment travelogue, just for fun. I think I got all components right, but not the order. An absurd wayback machine. Did not want to miss it though.

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8

List cost or what we paid? I’ve had some storming deals on speakers…because they’re ancient and now worth about $4.50 :slight_smile:

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9

You should stop travelling with SpaceX there are more economical ways to visit HiFi shop :laughing:

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10

dCS source - 19%
Amps and cables - 45%
Speakers - 36%

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11

Here’s what might seem a lopsided allocation of funds:
Source: 52%
Amps: 16%
Speakers: 9% (but they are very good, honestly!)
Cables: 15%
Power conditioning: 7%

(headphones [HD800S] and rack not included)

And I often think about room treatment as another important ‘component’, but have never taken the plunge. It is reassuring to see Tadders has the same percentage for speakers as me.

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12

This is the % breakdown of the two channel only part of my system.

dCS Source 27%
Amplification 34%
Speakers 27%
Cabling 11%
Two channel racking infrastructure ( Roon NUC, NAS etc ) 1%

Power infrastructure has been excluded as this is used/compromised by the legacy 5.1 home cinema system.

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13

Listening room: 70%, source: 5%, amplification: 5% speakers: 20%

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14

It’s true!

15

digital sources: 40%
amps: 40%
speaker: 20%

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16

Based on MSRP my breakdown is

Source: 33%
Amps: 24%
Speakers: 10%
Other: 33%

17

Based on new MSRP
Speakers = 39%
Digital/Analog Sources - $22%
Amps/Pre - 25%
Cabling - 14%

Since my speakers were not new, this is closer but no perfect.
Speakers - 22%
Digital/Analog sources -27%
Amps/Pre - 32%
Cabling - 19%

Not included racking, stands, room treatments

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18

My percentages:
Rossini player + clock 34%
Amplifier 25%
Speakers 27%
Cables + Rack 14%

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19

Uhm … you mean the actual walls or the treatment?

A.

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20

My listening room was planned up from scratch. Floor and walls are
floating and decoupled from the rest of the building. It also has a safety door. The average background noise is 15 dbA. Frequency response is flat within +/- 2dB over the whole frequency spectrum.
Of course there are some devices for acoustic treatment in it (mostly
RPG and ASC).