Amplification: what are the biggest advances of the last 40 years?


As an audiophile most of my adult life but without any engineering expertise, I wonder how amplification has advanced since I started in this hobby as a high school student in the eighties?

Specifically, what has advanced the state of the art and what, specifically, make newer products sound "better" than older ones?

Is it that circuit design has advanced so much?  Or is the bigger difference parts quality and the technology leading to these better parts?

And please, none of the banal "it all matters" comments.  What I'm asking: which of the above matters the most?


bobbydd

Showing 3 responses by millercarbon

Ralph is right, of course. The general trend is up. A rising tide lifts all boats. The ones that float, that is. Never forget that one little detail. Makes all the difference in the world.
Is it that circuit design has advanced so much? Or is the bigger difference parts quality and the technology leading to these better parts?

And please, none of the banal "it all matters" comments. What I'm asking: which of the above matters the most?

Please people, read the OP. Thank you.
So there are no great advances in sound quality, but instead as usual they figured out how to do everything just a little bit better. But that is banal, and so must not be mentioned. We will now proceed at Ludicrous Speed to list all the other stuff that we are allowed to talk about.