A reference system is defined by two factors:
A--- The sound of live acoustic instruments or voices experimented by each one of us in our life...
B----Then the way the system room is acoustically designed for ONE listener to translate the recording in the best acoustic experience...
Great hall acoustics dont use the principle and concepts of acoustics for all listeners ears sitting in different position in the same way a dedicated room did for the owner ears in one specific location...
Same acoustics science very different application...
There exist as many reference system as there is pair of ears...
A reference system is not about money and only gear pieces but about their acoustical embeddings...
the fact that some piece of gear are "reference" does not define a reference TOP system...