@Atmasphere, There are examples of detailed electronics that are also sweet, but that is a different discussion, I think. A common experiment is to bypass a stage such as a gain circuit, as in plugging a source into a good passive attenuator and then comparing to plugging a source into a preamp active circuit at matched volumes. The passive attenuator will be more transparent than with a preamp, and also cooler in tonality. Ignore the situation of impedance mismatches and also more dynamics from the extra gain stage. Many people don't like the direct approach because they are addicted to warmth and more dynamics. The essential concept is that any extra circuit adds distortion which is usually fuzzy warmth. In real life, I like hearing singers with warm voice tonality. I like hearing natural large instruments like the string bass, tuba, piano. This is natural warmth from balanced harmonics, very different from audio warmth, which is really just fuzzy extras added to the core body of sound. Audio warmth is a fur coat effect, where a woman has loss of her body features when she is wearing the fur coat. I want to see the woman in a well fitted dress rather than a large winter coat which makes all women appear fat.
A corollary is that I would expect an amp with lots more circuitry will have more distortion than a simpler circuit. Yes, it depends on the type of distortions from the added circuitry, so sometimes the complex circuit will sound cooler. This type of coolness is overlaid with distortion products. But this is a slightly different topic. I imagine that your R & D has found simpler circuits to be more detailed with less distortion than complex circuits in your iterations of products over the years.