Pulse Audio was standard with Z17 not Pipewire now with Z18. But read Pulse Audio is tied to systemd and removal could cause system breakage. Ref:
Others here may wish to advise regarding the running of Pulse Audio alongside Pipewire and whether the combination is proven problematic generally or just on some PC's or Macs.
Also can Pulse Audio be added/removed without fear of DE damage now Pipewire is the standard backend in Z18?
I guess you could employ Synaptic Package Manager to non-destructive test what else would be removed if you mark Pulse Audio for removal, without taking that final action to actually remove. Any other suggestions?