Are the performance of separates worth the price?


I am considering the purchase of an integrated amp or combination pre-amp/amp from the same manufacturer - both are based on similar technology.

The separates will cost approximately 45% more. Can I expect the performance to justify the price?
Ag insider logo xs@2xmjcpas
there are some pretty good separates and some pretty good integrateds. I think your own ears will lead you the way that it is best for you.

My ears led me toward separates, but these things sure take up quite a bit of room!
Depending how much are you willing to spend. If over $2K, i would look into used separates. Better value, better sound.
The answer is yes. However, you really did not state enough in your question. Is the amplifier section of the intergrated equavalent to the stand alone amplifier. Check the manufacture's specs. If things like damping factor, power output, slew rate, signal to noise ratio, IM distortion, etc, are similar, then the units will probably preform about the same. Inaddition, if these units are from a quality manufacturer, and well constructed, then the likelyhood that the intergrated amp will offer any comprises in sound quality is low. Most of this is psycological anyway. You probably have always been told that a really high end system has to be separate components. What you have'nt been told is that many 'really' high end systems can sound like poop too. There was another good bit of advise offered here too. If you plan on using only one source, then skip the preamp all together and plug directly in to the amp. You can accomplish this with either an amp that has front panal volume controls....how many high end manufactures are still doing this....or a source that has variable outputs, etc. Furthur, if you are going to use more that one source, but no phono, or tape or recordable CD, etc, you can still do this with a high quality switchable multiple aux input device. If you want to record, you could also plug directly into the recorder (cd, dat, tape, ect).