Are future improvements in Amp/PreAmps slowing to a crawl?

I liked the closing of the article. He mentions without saying bluntly, that most of the designs out there today are spinoff’s. Dashes of this or that thrown in, and a new something is born. This is what I took from it anyways, right or wrong. Yes, this happens all the time. Most of the topologies out there now are repeats. I mean, how many ways do you think you can run a tube? Transistor? Wouldn’t one think those kinks were ironed out years ago? I sure do....

I knock people’s heads off quite regularly with a few of my restored 30+ year old amplifiers. Yes, they are solid state, and they sound nothing like the type would suggest, nor do they sound like tubes. They sound like music. If something sounds solid state or like tubes, it is not right IMO. I have not heard any revolutions in amplification/preamplification with anything new, to be honest. "Who is this clown?" you say? Who cares. Let’s just say I have been in this hobby all my life, and I have had a ton of gear, with a good set of musically trained ears.

Now, DAC’s are another story. Cables are another story. Electrolytic capacitors are another story. Everything else however, not so much..... All of course, JMO.

I think, he is both right and wrong. He is right that there doesn't appear that much more can be done with either tubes or transistors. Breakthrough will come when something different is invented. Whether it is ever invented or not is another question. I hope so. Let's be clear about it - neither tube nor transistor is good enough.
He knows it but he sounds quite resigned.

As noted already, type D is still in its' relative infancy.  So there's perhaps a new 'kid on the block' that's yet to hit the ceiling in terms of it's impact....

I keep seeing 'type T', which I suspect is referring to the Tripath units which appeared awhile back.  Is this a reference to a form of D class amps?  Can anyone expound on this for the record?

Curious minds, all that...*G*

Yea everything is crawling big time it makes me so sad!!

@asvjerry you are, indeed, correct. Class T are built using the Tripath chips and are a subset of class D amps. From what I understand, though, Tripath chips are no longer manufactured and haven't been for a few years, so anything advertised as Class T is probably not going to be a great example of cutting edge class D.