With all the hyperbolic reviews of gear, I find it hard sometimes to quantify how important various components of a hifi setup are to achieving the best sound possible.
What do you spend the bulk of your budget on, and what can you get away with skimping on until you’ve got extra cash lying around, to get those diminishing returns on the last few % of upgrade for your rig?
For me the transducer will always my utmost priority. If my current dac/amp cannot drive it properly, then it becomes my second priority. I’m assuming the source is the type of file you play. If it is, as long as it meets 320 kbps mp3 or equivalent then it’s fine since I really can’t discern the difference of higher bitrate than that.