No matter what you consider high end, most IC-based stuff can be improved by putting a Burson op amp replacement (made of discrete parts) in it. The amount of improvement depends on what chip was there in the first place but I haven't found any op amps, even the very best ones, that can match a Burson. (Of course it's easier to do this if the amp has sockets for the IC's, but quite a few do.)
Can an IC based amp be considered 'high end'?
I'm fairly new to this forum so apologies if this has been asked before (I've searched the threads and can't find this question being raised), so here goes...
Most, if not all amplifiers that are regarded as 'high end' are either valve or solid state designs. Is there any reason why an amplifier based on an integrated circuit (chip) shouldn't be considered high-end as well? 47 Labs produced the Gaincard back in 1999 and DIYers have taken the design forward over the intervening years, improving performance, power etc. but there aren't many commercial products based on ICs. In my experience a very well designed IC based amplifier can give any other type of design (with a similar power output) a run for its money, I'm just interested why there aren't many about and whether there is a general opinion that they aren't 'high end', whatever that means.