Quote Originally Posted by agidol
Hi,
As a rookie audio enthusiast with very limited budget (two kids and a wife), I've always wanted to improve the sound quality and still able to pay the mortgage. So I have this question (I'm sorry if this has been asked before) so I can better prioritize my upgrade needs. However I want this question to a general question for future reference, not what I need to do to replace my current set up. Would you please help me rank the following in the order of importance to sound quality.

1. Speakers
2. Source (CD/DVD disc)
3. Player (CD/DVD)
4. Receiver/Pre-Amp
5. Receiver/ Power Amplifier
6. Cable
7. Power Conditioner - Someone's selling Panamax P.C. cheap and i'm wondering if it's worth the investment.

I've excluded room acoustics (although I bet it's within top 2) since I use living room as HT and I can only do so much with limited $ and limited WAF.
Thank you for your advises.
I think that you have a good order here. 1 & 2 can be switched at times (only because some sources can be really horrible) And you could add one more to the top. Your enjoyment. That has to be number one IMO. Some say the shape of our ears make a difference. But I wouldn't go changing them.
Also, room accoustics. That should be in there also. Maybe number 3. Some may say number 1.