I'm not aware of any super rigorous studies, but anecdotally the different types of setups definitely produce different flavors (I'm hesitant to ascribe a quali

I'm not aware of any super rigorous studies, but anecdotally the different types of setups definitely produce different flavors (I'm hesitant to ascribe a qualitative word like "better" since it could be pretty subjective). My room-mates were mostly apathetic to coffee before I moved in with them, but I have Chemex, an Aeropress, and a Moka. Now that they're used to my coffee, they can readily tell which one of the three I've used to make coffee when I make it. They also get excited when I decide to make coffee for the house after an extended dry spell; they use a Keurig when I don't make coffee and they both subjectively think that the stuff I make is way better than their Keurig. I can't ascribe all of that to just the setup, a part of it is the quality of the beans (sometimes I roast my own after buying green beans from Sweet Marias, and I also have a running Tonx subscription). But I'd say from experience that the brew method does in fact make a huge difference (still won't ascribe a qualitative word to it, though).