Speakers and amps combined with the room can make identical systems sound different. There are some that say all amps sound alike and maybe in an unfamiliar system that is true, but once you assemble a system and start spending time listening you'll surely notice differences in how music sounds when being processed and amplified by different sources. I f you're really lucky you'll love a particular combination but most of us compromise, settling on a musical but not perfect reproduction we can afford. A good dealer can save you thousands by narrowing down the field by helping you define what you want the system to do, type of music, volume, time spent, budget, room size, etc Often they have experience in component matching and can save you time also. Good luck have fun