Buy new integrated or vintage?

Thanks for your thoughts. I am a professional musician and owner of a small project studio. I have also worked in live sound reinforcement for years, so I am familar with accurate sound reproduction. The reason for my question was one more concerned with build quality. It seems good integrated amps from years passed had beefy power supplies, chassis and in my opinon, better esthetic (metal knobs switches etc). Now it could be I am a bit of a relic of a passed era but much that I have looked at (esoteric exotica excluded) in the Grand and under catagory looks like a step back. Is this the case and I should just get over it or am I missing something?
On the technical end, other than the power supply are there things to be concerned with when purchasing an older amp?

Bryston is a name I am fimilar with having been in studios where they are the monitor power source. Thanks for the suggestion. My project studio has a Hafler power/monitor/system setup but I am looking for an integrated for a living area apart from the studio. It would however also be used to monitor mixes as well. It's always good to listen to mixes on "consumer grade" equipment as this will be the type of system the majority of listeners will have. I think Phaelon hits the nail on the head with the realization that I can not find the build quality I have without spending a lot more today! It seems however, that 1980 prices are not really relative to todays when electronics generally have gotten cheaper. My guess is supply and demand for two channel stereo is relativly small as apposed to flat screen TV's and I Pods.

Thanks for your suggestions, this is a great forum and feel fourtunate to have found it. I will be hanging around checking on gear for sale and probably asking a few more questions.

Smitty

I sent back a Yamaha A S700 which I was less than impressed with. It seemed like a step backwards from my 30 year old Sony ES. I also sent back the Onkyo a-9555 which I was very dissapointed with, given all the reviews and hype generated by this amp. I would have chosen the Yamaha over the Onkyo easily. In defense of the Onkyo, it was an inexpensive amp, I took the chance, foolishly fooled by all the hoopla!

The Anthem looks interesting, certainly has the look of a well made unit. Thanks for the tip.

Smitty

Thanks for the suggestions. Looks as if spending around a grand has opened a new can of worms, no shortage of nice looking integrateds to look into. Quick , easy decisions, have never been my strong point and I am sure I will spend too much time looking instead of enjoying a well thought out purchase. How do you all do it!!

Smitty

Funny, so do I. I spend all that time investigating the object and then, still torture myself about the purchase!