My unprovable theory is that if you find a house sound that is perfect for you. All the same components should outperform mix and match. I cannot prove it. But to me, each component must be subtractive in some way. Say your first component is lean, and the second really warm, and third lean, and amp is warm... aren't you loosing nuance at each component when they are of different character. I will not defend this. It is just a thought experiment.
@ghdprentice Very adventurous thought process — I like it. To add to that, my view is that any coloration (anything non-neutral) acts like a filter that accumulates or cancels out across the entire signal chain (cables included), ultimately altering the system’s frequency response. So to minimize that effect, it’s preferable to keep components as neutral as possible and preserve that neutrality until the very end of the chain, where you can make intentional adjustments to the timbre or overall tonal balance for better coherence. This principle could be duly applicable to a mixed and match system as well.
