I used to sell audio in the heyday. The mainstream companies like Marantz, Pioneer and etc., seemed to save their audio goodness for their separates. They all made some halo products that to my ears were noticeably better sounding than their receiver lines. Of note, Sansui, Pioneer and Technics had high-ish end separates that really did rival some of the more esoteric brands and were priced accordingly. I know I didn't mention Marantz. To my ears, they didn't have the detail of the other higher end products, just my take. I had some early NAD which were a revelation for the money, but were unreliable.
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.