Well the " hit" is, I think, defined as the feedback one receives through their hands and up through the stroke arm as the cue strikes the cue ball. In logical thinking, I assume that if a cue shaft is totally flush with and tight to the cue butt- that neither the type of joint screw nor whether flat face or piloted joint would have any affect at all on the hit.
So, perhaps we can narrow this down to the cue tip hardness, shaft taper, wood or CF shaft, cue butt joint material, and cue butt composition material ( type of wood). There are way too many variables to identify one cue component as being solely responsible for the " hit" of a cue.
The combination of these variables in a given cue is a totally subjective matter as to how one would feel about a particular cue.
One would need experience with many various combinations of tip hardness, shaft type ( wood,CF), shaft tapers, cue joint materials, and cue butt woods; to truly find their perfect match.
There is no right or wrong answer, and even those who have the most experience with varied cue component combinations, can only truly speak for themselves as to " hit" preference.
MY ideal: soft to medium hardness tip on a wood shaft with 14 to 16 inch 12.7 MM pro taper into an ivory sleeved wood cue butt joint with a straight maple forearm having four ebony points.