Integrateds: Why do they all SUCK?


I’m trying to find a HIGH QUALITY integrated that has:
1. A no-corners-cut real class A - A/B power stage.
2. A real, high quality analog preamp line stage.
3. A good phono stage.

Aside from a few very high end products, the above described integrateds seem not to exist. Why can’t I find a quality integrated? Do we just have to accept having a pile of boxes?
madavid0

 

The animal skin clad, decrepit, mud-stained clan hunkered closely together as huge rain drops relentlessly pelted their goosebumped, filthy bodies.  A thunderous clap in the sky had just accompanied a jagged bolt of lightning that exploded their ‘gathering tree’ and left its remains ablaze, turning the pitch black sky into brightness much like that of mid-day sunlight. Flames from the blaze shot skyward which reflected the shock and fear in the frightened faces of the huddled, awestruck tribe.

Hesitantly, with much trepidation, their leader, MADAVID0, approached the burning, crackling conflagration engulfing their ‘gathering tree’. If he could have spoken (written nor spoken language had yet evolved within this particular, isolated population) he might have said, ‘WTF!!! That's friggin’ HOT, go find us a witch to burn!’ Instead, given his limited ability to express himself, and the mysterious nature of this new phenomenon, MADAVID0 inexplicably jumped into the blaze, leaping full speed into its white hot center! The clan gasped and moved even closer together, jaws agape, spittle hanging from their lips and incisors, unsure what to do! Alas, MADAVID0 did not emerge from the blaze, and it was days later, after the enormous fire had subsided, when the frightened band poked long poles into the ash and smoldering embers to reveal the remains of their charred leader.

 

Had they been able to speak, they might have said it, but were unable.

 

Mute, they just drooled, shuffled, whimpered a little, and stared. Anthropologists now postulate, though, that it was at that precise moment when prehistoric bands began to think it, ‘tastes like chicken!’

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@markmendenhall    - this is brilliant!   It made me laugh (and it was much needed)!!  Thank you!
@jafant Over on audioaficionado GreginNH posted that he preferred the AX-5 to the Accuphase E600.
" A re-occurring theme in these integrated units are these digital volume control schemes, usually some kind of electronically-controlled resistor ladder. Even very high-quality units everyone loves like the Esoterics use these. Virtually all solid-state integrated units use these things...from Simaudio, to Esoteric to Marantz to Luxman all the way down to Yamaha. Even the more boutique brands like Musical Fidelity...even Accuphase!

WHY??? Am I just being bigoted against these electronic line stages? Can these really provide the lushness and three-dimentionality you would expect out of a "proper" active class A line stage?"
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I don’t think you know anything about electronics at all. What does an active class A line stage (line level output) have anything to do with the gain being controlled by a resistor ladder circuit?

Class A output (line or phono or power amp level) is basically biasing the amplification device (tube or transistor) such that they are always on, rather than off during the negative cycle of a audio signal.

A resistor ladder circuit introduces combinations of resistors in the audio output signal to reduce or increase the signal magnitude, ie, controls the volume of the signal. It’s not a digital method, it’s purely analog. Another purely analog method is usage of a potentiometer, with does the same thing, but uses a variable resistor instead of discrete resistors...and they degrade the signal and wear out over time, are noisy in general. Another method is to use optical encoders from the knob to control discrete resistors and transistors (like my Ayre K5xeMP, which has one of the best volume controls I have ever encountered, and it’s not even their high end linestage). The digital means of controlling volume is taking a digital signal of high bit depth and trimming the bit depth. It can be lossy or lossless, depending on the method used, and its purely for digital amplifiers and DACs, you wont find that in an analog device.