In a modern world with a myriad of technology choices available to us engineers, how much does that technology matter as compared to how it is implemented?
For instance, we can all agree tubes sound different than transistors. But which is better? In the output stage of a power amplifier it is the transistor, while on its input stage we can argue all day long about the two choices.
Or ribbons versus domes in the tweeter world. Open versus closed baffles in the box world. Class D versus Class AB in amplifiers.
I would put up our Stellar M1200 hybrids against just about anyone else's designs regardless of pedigree or technology. It isn't that we use a tube on the front end and Class D on the output stage (imagine if we had done the opposite), it is the artful blend of two technologies to create one beautiful sounding masterpiece.
Like almost everything else in life, it's not necessarily the quality of ingredients as it is the skill of the chef.