A clean power amplifier stands out in a crowd. Look for a pristine face plate with no smudges or missing silk screening. The sides, bottom plate and rear panel the same and look for bright shinny input connectors, speaker posts and the female IEC slot. A quick look inside would reveal no dust, clean circuit boards, wire, caps and transformers. If it is an exposed tube amp in addition to the above, look for clean chrome or top surface with no scratching from cleaning and shiny glass on the tubes.
