In my experience with the receivers of the 70s many had good amplifiers, but few had preamplifier performance to match. Integrated amps were no different in this respect. This applies only to transistor gear. I recall fronting a Sansui AU 5500 with a Marantz 7 tube preamp, using the amp-in jacks and was impressed that the amp sounded as good as the Crown amp I used then, but with the jumpers in, was lackluster, flat, dull. The Crown D60 was indistinguishable from the Model 8 tube amp, with a/d/s/ L710s.
Did the Old Receivers Sound Good?
Before the high end started, we had all these receivers and integrated amps from Pioneer, Kenwood, Sansui, Sherwood, etc., all with incredible specs. Then somehow we decided that specs didn't matter and we started moving to the more esoteric stuff from Ampzilla, Krell and whoever, but the specs were not as good. My question is - Did the old Japanese stuff with the great specs sound better? I don't remember. I'm asking because many seem to be moving back to the "specs are everything" mindset and I was thinking about all that old stuff with so many zeros to the right of the decimal point.