Headers vs 340 manifolds

We all know that changing just one thing on a stock engine usually results in only a small improvement (intake, carb, cam, headers). I think a more interesting question is on a stock engine where is the biggest bottleneck limiting the making of more power or is it a waste of time only doing one thing? If you could only upgrade one component where is the money best spent or does it matter?

I know its 3x the $$ over the other upgrades but perhaps bolting on aluminum heads eliminates the biggest bottleneck (probably been tested already....I didn't search). I might have tried that with my latest stock build had price and availability gotten crazy.
That's only true IF you intend to make more power than the stock heads can flow.