Has the General Rule of Audio changed?

[krabapple]

When I was coming up in this hobby, we were taught a General Rule : Decide a budget, and then put fifty percent of that budget toward your speakers (the Back End) and put the other half toward your receiver and turntable (the Front End). This was a good, safe rule and served us well for many years.

Needless to say, the world has changed since then. Nowadays, due to the great advances in electronics, and to the great reductions in cost, I'm starting to wonder if the General Rule holds anymore. Thanks to the digital revolution and large cost reductions -- especially in front end gear -- it is possible to have an excellent system for less than 1000US. But how should that money be allocated? Is it still 50/50? 60/40? 75/25? I have always valued, and learned, from the opinion of our membership, and I'm asking for it now. So, given the state of audio in 2025, how would you allocate your money if you were buying a new system this year? Thank you very much for your input.

The majority (well north of 50%) to excellent performing speakers (and really, more than just two ) & subwoofer(s), and most of the rest to 1) front end that can do 'room DSP', decodes everything, and has enough clean power to suit your needs* and 2) some room treatment (which can include rugs, furniture, or more purpose-built stuff) . The remainder for content playback devices.


*powered speakers are of course an alternative

 

[rdenney]

Dividing the budget before establishing the requirements and choosing items that fulfill those requirements is tainting the selection process by design. Set an overall budget and work to that, selecting each part to have the features needed to fulfill requirements.

Speakers that are flat on-axis, low in distortion, and have wide and smooth directivity can be found a various price points, either new or preowned. They vary more in terms of total output capability, and I did have requirements related to that. I managed to find a pair of Revel F12's for $700, and I think they would hold their own with new speakers costing several multiples of that amount. I didn't choose them based on specific price, but they were in the running because they were affordable. Then, I had to check to verify them against my requirements. I knew they might be simply because they were made by a company built around good speaker design principles that seem to me important and correct. They would have fulfilled those requirements just as well if they were $350 or $1400, but at the latter price I might have passed.

Had I started with a design formula instead of a set of requirements, I might never have explored those F12's as an option, or known how to evaluate them against my needs.

Rick "thinking of overall budget as a constraint only" Denney

 

[PristineSound]

The other thing I want to add is that, you should shop around. Outside of Chinese gears like Topping, SMSL, many times you can work out a deal with the dealer if you are a returning customer. Revel speakers often times goes on sale and many times, it's a deep discount.


You can also look in the used market too to find great deals.

 

[PristineSound]

To date, I spent:

~50% on speakers, including the subs
~40% on room treatment
~10% on electronics

10% on electronics is impressive, what electronics do you have?

 

[tengiz]

10% on electronics is impressive, what electronics do you have?

Denon x3800h, Marantz SR6013, a bunch of DIY-ish amps with ICEPower modules that ended up collecting dust mostly.
Sony x800m2 that replaced an old Oppo 103, Apple TV that replaced Fire TV, and the latest addition - Technics SL-5 from EBay.

 

[PristineSound]

Denon x3800h, Marantz SR6013, a bunch of DIY-ish amps with ICEPower modules that ended up collecting dust mostly.
Sony x800m2 that replaced an old Oppo 103, Apple TV that replaced Fire TV, and the latest addition - Technics SL-5 from EBay.

I see. So your budget isn't as limited as what the OP is asking about. Makes sense, you can have pretty good electronics with only 10% budget.

 

[krabapple]

Well yeah, the $$ amount of the budget itself is as important as how to divvy it up.

 

[tengiz]

I see. So your budget isn't as limited as what the OP is asking about. Makes sense, you can have pretty good electronics with only 10% budget.

Right, I don't see any reason to go crazy on electronics. The room and the speakers will still have their last word no matter what you electronics you pick, as long as it's reasonable and there is some headroom. I don't even use separate amps anymore, except when it's more convenient. I pick the receivers by the features I need - like MultEQ-X capable - not so much by the specs, because they are good enough for everything I through at them anyway. I am fine with the integrated DACs and purely digital transports, etc.

 

[tengiz]

Well yeah, the $$ amount of the budget itself is as important as how to divvy it up.

I’m firmly in the camp that says start with speakers and the room. Allocate as much of your budget as possible to getting the best speakers you can afford, and try to treat the room - at least a little. The electronics are secondary. You can always find a decent amp at just about any price point.

Add a good Bluetooth audio adapter with a high-quality codec, and you can be up and running using your phone as the source.

Next - unless you're very lucky and your room doesn’t mess with your bass too much - add a used MiniDSP to tame the room modes. You may also need subs for that to really be effective.

And honestly, that’s pretty much it.

 

[Alannn]

We are living in an age of easily affordable perfect sounding amps and bit perfect streaming. Budget increases on electronics are generally about inaudible improvements in specs and esthetics. The old rules of dividing up the audio budget are no longer relevant. Hopefully you can afford appropriate subs and their proper integration; that will have a big effect on your budget.

 

[PristineSound]

I’m firmly in the camp that says start with speakers and the room. Allocate as much of your budget as possible to getting the best speakers you can afford, and try to treat the room - at least a little. The electronics are secondary. You can always find a decent amp at just about any price point.

Add a good Bluetooth audio adapter with a high-quality codec, and you can be up and running using your phone as the source.

Next - unless you're very lucky and your room doesn’t mess with your bass too much - add a used MiniDSP to tame the room modes. You may also need subs for that to really be effective.

And honestly, that’s pretty much it.

I agree, except I want to offer few, what I believe are, some reasonable alternatives. Room treatment ain't cheap if you buy. In the US, I use ATS Acoustics and Acoustimac, while they are affordable, they still ain't budget stuff. As such consider buying some cheap acoustic foam tiles from Amazon for now so that you can dump more money into speakers. Or DIY some panels yourself.

The one electronic I wouldn't recommend one to go cheap on is the amplifier. Of all electronics, I would say the amplifier is the most important. You should look to get an amplifier that is load and frequency invariant with enough power.

Alternatively, get yourself an active speaker and call it a day. I personally am not a fan of having all the electronics inside the speakers but there is a lot of benefit of active speakers.

 

[krabapple]

I’m firmly in the camp that says start with speakers and the room. Allocate as much of your budget as possible to getting the best speakers you can afford, and try to treat the room - at least a little. The electronics are secondary.

Yep, like I said.

I agree, except I want to offer few, what I believe are, some reasonable alternatives. Room treatment ain't cheap if you buy. In the US, I use ATS Acoustics and Acoustimac, while they are affordable, they still ain't budget stuff. As such consider buying some cheap acoustic foam tiles from Amazon for now so that you can dump more money into speakers. Or DIY some panels yourself.

I know not everyone is handy, but I can testify, some 4" rockwool, pine board, and fasteners from the local Lowe's, and a device for cutting wood, makes for some very cheap 2' x 4' absorbers that require minimal skill to make. You can crank out enough for most rooms in an afternoon. Plenty of Youtube vids to help you. The rockwool is the priciest element (apart from optional mitre saw and power screwdriver, which I recommend versus good old handsaw and elbow grease.)

 

[tengiz]

We’re definitely in agreement here.

I’d also add that when it comes to amps - if the OP’s up for it - it really doesn’t take an engineering degree to "almost" DIY something solid: the excellent ICEpower all-in-one modules are relatively inexpensive, especially the older versions, which are still very capable. Grab one off eBay, add a crimped cable set and terminals, toss it into a suitable enclosure, and you’ve got yourself a great little starter stereo amp that just works with a wide range of "normal" speakers.

 

[DVinylfan]

When I was coming up in this hobby, we were taught a General Rule : Decide a budget, and then put fifty percent of that budget toward your speakers (the Back End) and put the other half toward your receiver and turntable (the Front End). This was a good, safe rule and served us well for many years.

Needless to say, the world has changed since then. Nowadays, due to the great advances in electronics, and to the great reductions in cost, I'm starting to wonder if the General Rule holds anymore. Thanks to the digital revolution and large cost reductions -- especially in front end gear -- it is possible to have an excellent system for less than 1000US. But how should that money be allocated? Is it still 50/50? 60/40? 75/25? I have always valued, and learned, from the opinion of our membership, and I'm asking for it now. So, given the state of audio in 2025, how would you allocate your money if you were buying a new system this year? Thank you very much for your input.

When I was coming up in this hobby (in the 1980's) the accepted wisdom was that information on the recording lost at the front end could never be recovered, therefore the budget should be a hierarchy descending sharply from source (record player) to speakers.
Thus, then, there were many people enjoying their music on a Linn LP12/Ittok/Troika via a Naim Nait integrated amplifier and budget Wharfedfale Diamond speakers.
The myth of those times was that that the GIGO philosophy of information loss at the front end was mutually exclusive with the fact that speakers and their interaction with the room have the greatest influence on the sound of the system.
We know better nowadays. Mainly thanks to Audio Science Review.

 

[PristineSound]

I’d also add that when it comes to amps - if the OP’s up for it - it really doesn’t take an engineering degree to "almost" DIY something solid: the excellent ICEpower all-in-one modules are relatively inexpensive, especially the older versions, which are still very capable. Grab one off eBay, add a crimped cable set and terminals, toss it into a suitable enclosure, and you’ve got yourself a great little starter stereo amp that just works with a wide range of "normal" speakers.

This is my Hypex dual mono NC400 with a WIFI on/off control module that I assembled myself. It uses a custom Ghent Audio case.

From my experience with this little project, I felt like I only saved a little money. Actually, I may have just broke even because I had to get the case sandblasted and re-anodized to silver. I could of bought something like this from Nord for about the same amount.

I'm not saying you won't save money with DIY, I am saying you really have to do a cost/benefit and buy vs build cost analysis.

If I could do it all over again, I will probably buy a Nord instead.

 

[tengiz]

This is my Hypex dual mono NC400 with a WIFI on/off control module that I assembled myself. It uses a custom Ghent Audio case.

From my experience with this little project, I felt like I only saved a little money. Actually, I may have just broke even because I had to get the case sandblasted and re-anodized to silver. I could of bought something like this from Nord for about the same amount.

I'm not saying you won't save money with DIY, I am saying you really have to do a cost/benefit and buy vs build cost analysis.

If I could do it all over again, I will probably buy a Nord instead.

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I skipped Hypex back then because it needed a separate power supply - and for whatever reason, they just didn’t seem that into all-in-one solutions at the time. Great performance, no doubt, but too many pieces to deal with if you just wanted to throw something together.

ICEpower, on the other hand, was almost as goodand had everything built in - including that auto-on “music sense” thing or whatever they called it. It was super convenient: grab the module, crimp a few JST connectors, plug it all in, and you’re basically done. Well, except for the enclosure - that was a whole other project in itself

 

[Steven Holt]

WOW!! I never dreamed I would have a four-page post, and such an excellent discussion on this! It's clear to me that the back end should be the major investment, with preferably powered speakers. And room-correction seems to be part of any good system nowadays. I very much appreciate everyone who responded. I learned a great deal, and I hope everyone else did too! (and a special shout-out to @staticV3 and @DVDdoug who put the nail on the head!)

 

[Tell]

I don't think you can really place a percent number since you can spend how much or as little you want on the speakers.

I mean for the electronics you need a minimum a DSP and a measurement mic, so say a UMIK1for around 100 eur and then maybe a MiniDSP 2x4HD for is it maybe 200 eur? Then in terms of streamer you could use your phone and it's 3.5mm port (if you're lucky enough to have one), or maybe go for a Wiim Mini for around 80 eur.
An amplifier doesn't need to cost much at all unless you really need lots of power, so say a Aiyima A07 for 80 eur, or double that if you really need it load independent. And then cables for maybe 20 eur and some room treatment which the bare minimum is an old matress which you can get for free, or spend a bit more for something already finished, maybe 50 eur (don't have a clue tbh).

And that leaves whatever you need for the speakers since the rest is more or less at a really good standard.
AsciLab F6B is a good choice I'd say for around 900 eur which in percentage going to be at around 60% (quick estimate). Maybe you want better bass though so up that estimate to 70% maybe.
But then of course you could get a pair of KEF Blade and pair it with the rest just fine and the speaker to electronics percentage will shoot up the roof

 

[Graham849]

In Aus$ DAC $319, Amp $169, Speakers $330.

BUT other gear on the journey $1200

 

[Sal1950]

Today I can see going for 75/25 - with the 25 percent going towards an amplifier with streaming capability

I could live with that. TOTL electronic sound can be obtained at a very low cost, both in amps and source serving.