Originally Posted by dave123
I'd just like to know what makes a great system its a interesting subject.
Put simply: Good gear. I have a "great" set of speakers, I have a "great" amp. But they aren't together because my "decent" speakers sound better in our big room (living room) than them and are far more tolerant of being fed material that isn't of the best quality. Of course what constitutes great/good/acceptable...etc is all relative. My main speakers are a set of Paradigm Monitor 11's, which were the top speaker in Paradigm's lowest tier of speakers, they have (or had) two tiers above them. They are decent speakers in the sense they are clear, produce tight sound, excellent imaging, very full range and go incredibly loud. They are a little too warm if you are a purist; they colour the music a bit, but with what I listen to, this isn't a bad thing. My "great" speakers are a set of vintage B&W 802 S3's, which were their top of the line speaker. Their currently equivalent, the 802 D3 are $22K a pair, which is actually quite reasonable compared to other speakers, including their new Nautilus series, which are $60K. These are true reference-grade speakers and are what were used at Abbey Road. They are incredibly unforgiving when fed garbage; you'll hear every imperfection as their sound reproduction is absolutely superb, so they will equally delight when fed something of quality.
The amp driving the Paradigms is an older Bryston 4B which I had completely refreshed at Bryston, who are local. It's a dedicated 2-channel amp 270W/channel @ 8ohms. I used this to drive the B&W's originally and will likely pick up a 4B3 at some point and move the 4B back to the B&W's.
Pre-amp for analog content is a PS Audio unit, which has a lovely phono stage. My record player isn't anything special, just an old Aurex (Toshiba) SR-Q200 direct-drive unit which sounds surprisingly good. When I had that setup hooked up to the B&W's it was... interesting. It was very easy to discern recording quality and it made some stuff hard to listen to. I have an original UK pressing of Metallica's LOAD album which is absolutely brilliant; the best sounding vinyl I own, it absolutely came alive through the B&W's, the detail, the clarity, the depth, it was incredible. My repress of Ride the Lightning sounded like garbage. Flat, harsh...etc. You play the same stuff through the Paradigms, while LOAD still sounds incredible, Ride the Lightning sounds good, as does MoP and some other stuff. So that's why I have things configured the way I do.