@celander You are right. Impedance matching is particularly important and I've learned the hard way that mixing components that are great on paper but do not mix well does not provide the optimal setup. Of course, great combinations can be found even when components are not from the same company but like you said, gear coming from the same place is expected to sound great. It also help 'solve' the "what if" problem as what you get is what was intended in term of synergy and you are no longer wondering how the system would sound if you were to change a component in the chain. At least it worked for me as I do not have the same sense of urgency to make a move as before. If I wanted a different sound, it is very likely I would have to change the whole setup and go a different route. Anyway, some people may disagree with my statement but for me, finding a combination I like helped me focus more on listening to music than to my components/system :-)