What's essential in your music reproduction system?
One view is everything. If you didn't have what you have you wouldn't get the same results.
Hard to argue with.
Another view might be loudspeakers, a source, an amplifier, and connecting cables.
Somewhere between everything and the minimalist approach lies the essentials needed to make our music systems sing. Fuses, footers, lifts, and acoustic treatments might all be extra but some say without them their systems aren't magical anymore.
What's essential to you?