I am very satisifed right now with my system. I moved from mid-fi to hifi around 1988 with the purchase of some planar speakers. That led to a used tube preamp purchase a year later. I had the preamp modified with cap, resistor and wire upgrades just after purchase and I used that preamp and those speakers for 14 years. Amps changed once or twice and my digital changed once. I sprung for a decent tt in 1992 and have been very happy with that since. After 14 years, I changed preamps and speakers which also led to an amp change. I wanted to be able to use MC cartridges and I want to try something different for speakers. I cycled through one set of speakers and a preamp before settling on what I have now. I can see updating my digital side again in a few years, but I am of the opinion that amplification technology has not really changed for a few decades. Sure, components have improved such as capacitors, which I could more easily incorporate into my current gear. I just can't commit to spend the equivalent of a new car these days to acheive an incremental improvement. Couple that with the lack of places to audition good gear, and I just don't see myself making big changes in the near future.
Someone tell me- have the basic amplification circuits changed in the past decade or two, or isn't the latest and greatest gear really just variations of a theme using more refined components?
Someone tell me- have the basic amplification circuits changed in the past decade or two, or isn't the latest and greatest gear really just variations of a theme using more refined components?