"Brand Synergy" = "House sound" and that hasn't worked for me. In general, I like ARC amps and CJ pre's, and now I own neither in my listening room; but in order to get the sound that I like, as opposed to what they think is best, separate brands is the way for me.
Benefits of brand synergy
How important is brand synergy in matching components? This not only includes amps and preamps but also digital sources from a particular brand, say Arcam or Kell. Is this "synergy" important just for impedance purposes or is there an additional sonic benefit of having everything matching? Thanks.