Agreed, it’s a system and the two heavyweights are the room and the speaker, probably in that order. It’s a shame what some high end stores do, trying to solve a room problem with a cable or even amplifier switch. Much of the switching I did over years was pointless. It wasn’t until with DSP I was able to ameliorate some of the room issues, that I was able to really benefit from switching some of the electronics. For me having a system that’s easy to use is also very important so my entire family can enjoy it, including my son with special needs. So I prefer less boxes and great integration with a universal remote. This weighed heavily in selecting the Meitner MA3. The Roon integration is flawless, including volume control and auto selection of Roon when you press play on your iPad. Remote has discrete input selection.
For TV, I route the Toslink in stereo to a dedicated PC that is running a low latency convolver for DSP, then this goes into the MA3 via USB. With the TADs the imaging is so tight, you would think I have a center channel. For music, I only use Roon with an Audiolense convolution running on it.
I do believe the MA3 sounds different than my prior DAC, which was a Berkeley Ref Ser 2. But maybe it doesn’t. I really don’t care because it sounds great now, and the ergonomics matter more to me. The sonic difference is very subtle, at best, and mostly heard on sibilance and cymbals. Same with the amplifiers, the AHB2 seems a touch smoother than the Constellation. But the ergonomics of the MA3 trump the Berkeley that has no Roon integration and no USB input. And the ABH2s are much more efficient than the Constellation, and don’t heat up my room in Miami. And they are much cheaper so I was able to get 4 so I could bi amp my TADs. Bi amping made a huge difference in the bass, but this is not so easy to execute without serious help from a real speaker designe.