There are few things in stereo reproduction as important as setup: how well your speakers are positioned, how accepting your room is, the choices you've made in placement.
I can't count the number of times I have been able to wring a higher level of performance from what was thought to be a mediocre group of products by simply rearranging the setup. Or, how often folks reject a new product because it doesn't fit into an already established concoction of kit.
If we only knew the importance of setup we would get far more benefit out of the electronics, cables, and speakers that grace our homes.
One of the problems we have is believing our setups are perfect for a given space when what's actually true is they are optimized for the components that make them up at the time of installation and subsequent tweaks.
Change a component, change the setup.
If we only knew the true value of the setup we'd likely be making far different choices.
The next time you try a new piece in your system's puzzle, consider the setup.
It may be the single most critical component in your chain.
