The Magic Spending Ratio, does it exist?

[Ajani]

When I first got into this Hobby I heard about ratios of how you should portion your funds, such as:

50% on Speakers
25% Amp
20% Source
5% Cables

But having listened to and owned various setups with funds apportioned very differently... and seeing many reviews in which reviewers spend about 80% of the budget on electronics and only 20% on Speakers, I question whether a ratio even exists... Now I think it's more about brand matching/Synergy than price Ratios.

I still think Speakers tend to make the most difference in whether you like the overall sound of a system.... It doesn't matter how great your source is, the wrong brand of speakers will kill all the enjoyment (note I said Brand and not Price, since I no longer believe there is a magic ratio of how much you should spend on Speaker vs Source vs amp vs cables)