Looking to start a discussion on integrated Amplifiers. I would love to hear both arguments. Is modern technology (outside of dacs) superior? Or is a 20 year old similarly spec’d amplifier just as good? Is a 20 year old high end amp just as capable of a high end amp today?
The answer is: It depends.
I can get an integrated amp made in 2022 from supermarket for less than fity bucks and I bet it will sound terrible in coparison to a thirty year old second hand amp in the same price category that has been made well and will sound way better.
Good amp design is not necesarrily all about components or technology. It is also about compromises and which compromises have been made where.
Another example: I recently finished building my own integrated amp based on EL34 tubes. Though it sounds “fantastic”, it is a pain in the ass to maintain long term and gets hot in relation to a solid state amp in the same price category. It is also not easy on the elctricity bill.
I believe it all comes down to the design philosophy used, which translates to the parts, circuit design and trade-offs that are made.
Nah. It’s more like, cheap amps got way better. They’d be close.