When any part of a system performs poorly (or fails) you will probably get poor overall performance...that applies to HT/Stereo, computer systems, or most any other kind of system.
One way this subject is sometimes treated is to look at it from a pctg of total system value. The tough part about saying "40% of your system price should be spent on speakers.." or something like that is that some companies - like Axiom - give you great value for the dollar. Whereas there are others that don't do nearly as good of a job, or have cost disadvantages (B&M brands).
When I was shopping for my system I operated under the premise that my 'quality' priorities (as subjective as that sounds) should be
1. speakers
2. receiver (wasn't considering separates at the time)
3. interconnects
4. source
Obviously this can't be perfectly translated to dollars spent...I spent less on my interconnects (once I figured out there were good alternatives out there to the Monster marketing machine) than I did on any one source.
What I have come to appreciate after spending a lot of time lurking and some time posting on this board is that I probably should have spent more time shopping for better source components - my Sony DVD player makes me wince, wishing I had gone for a refurb Denon universal player. Oh well, live and learn.
