Does coffee bean really make a difference?

A continuation from my previous post, I started thinking about the different brands of coffee beans. I had this long conversation with a couple of my coffee addict friends and father and tey bascially said the same thing
1. Coffee bean is important but not the only thing
- illy and Lavazza are the 2 most popular
I was told that illy spends alot more on marketing thus people pay a premium for it. My friend swears by lavazza and the only reason he says that they are about the same price, expensive..hehe
I remember lavazza being very popular in Australia when I was there studying and recently when I was holidaying, so it cant be that bad. Apparently illy has a smoother texture while lavazza is stronger or more robust.
2. something that is more important than just the beans is the coffee machine and the grinder. The machine must be an excellant machine....la cimballi is apparently the best there is. I remember coffee bean and Oriels using that brand here. This must be so coz my friends tell me that although places like la bodega and alexis use illy, the coffee is not very good.
3. The branded coffee uses arabica beans, even starbucks and coffee bean use the same beans. I guess most manufacturers' coffee taste the same if done properly.
Verdict: I guess coffee beans are important but if the people don't know how to adjust the coffee machine and create the prefect grind, it wouldnt matter what bean they use.
Recommendation: Lavazza 2, illy 1 (had talked to 3 pple) and 1 said that Marks and spencer has a very good coffee...RM50 for 200gm, better than illy but not as strong as lavazza