Setup and rooms

We all pay at least lip service to the importance of rooms and setup though I suspect in our heart of hearts we believe the components are really the key to sound quality. It's truly a chicken and egg sort of thing: crappy equipment in a great room isn't going to sound amazing just like excellent equipment in a crappy room's not going to set your hair on fire. But like the age-old debate about whether sources are more important than speakers, the truth behind setup and room importance vs. the contribution of the equipment is always going to be a contentious one. I have heard equipment I have little respect for sound more than amazing in a well setup room. In fact, if I had to summarize my years of experience, I'd have to say I've heard better high-end audio systems of medium quality equipment in great setups than the opposite. I can't tell you the number of great collections of equipment that have sounded dreadful. Yet, knowing that equipment can sound amazing leads me to conclude that in the end, all things considered, setup, and room is more important than the components playing in them. Just sayin'.