First, understand the marketing of high end stuff. Most audiophile's will change the amps last. Therefore, to make money source components always get pushed. Just check the ads in the magazine.
Latest Stereophile - Recommended Components
I wonder if it's just me or have I missed something. I received the latest Stereophile that has the latest "Recommended Components" and it seemed like the number of amps listed is very short. In fact, there seems to be a heavy emphasis on listings for turntables and CD/DVD players and a number of speakers and that's about it.