What is the most important component in the audio system? What cable makes the biggest difference?
The short answer is all of them. In performance driven applications everything matters, but to varying degrees. With limited budget, time, and space it helps to isolate variables and prioritize our steps with help from a rule of thumb:
A chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link.
Losses at any stage in the audio chain cannot be restored. As we fix weaker links, we “promote” the next strongest links to be the new weak ones. Poor performers truly reveal themselves when removed or replaced by better.
Our job, if we want better sound, is to look at the system as a whole: identify the areas of greatest deficiency and address those first. Once we achieve better performance we will hear that small changes make more noticeable differences as we go. As performance improves, smaller details take on a new significance. These smaller details are where significant results are achieved. This approach is the same in component development, be it a phono cable or an amplifier.
The F1 car responds to 1 pound of added tire pressure very differently than a passenger car. The Prius driver might be led to believe that any talk of tire pressures affecting performance is ramblings of the mad. Context, my friends.
One area that is always worth a careful look is AC power delivery. Power is the foundation of amplification – nothing in music reproduction happens without it. IME it tends to be an area of lower concern in many systems but it belongs at or near #1. Power cables, dedicated lines, and outlets contribute heavily to fidelity.
So what is the most important cable in the system? What is the most important component? Look for the one doing the most damage.