How far have ss amps really come in the last twenty years?

@daveyf "  @atmasphere  Distortion is an interesting term. Distortion compared to what? You mention that the human ear treats 2nd and 3rd harmonic distortion favorably. Therefore, one needs to question whether these distortions are distortions at all. Since we, as humans are using our ear/brain to determine what is considered as a true  and pure signal, wouldn’t it make more sense to label a signal that doesn’t include these 2nd and 3rd harmonics as the signal that is actually distorted...?"

Are you serious!??  It is not the job of an amplifier to supply anything to the signal.  The recorded signal should contain the actual harmonic structure of the timbre being captured.  The amp should do nothing more than reproduce that - NOT add something to it.  @atmasphere is just trying to tell you that one reason that amps sound different is that they distort the recorded  signal by adding their own 2nd and 3rd harmonic distortion in varying degrees.  If you are trying to behave as a chef and add your harmonic spice to suit your taste, then find an amp the has the distortion profile that you like.  If you want to hear the recording, get a transparent amp with little added harmonics and clean up the upstream equipment as well.  You may not like what you hear in a lot of recordings though.  If you have found  a way to create, by your choice of equipment, distortions that make all of your recordings sound decent, then fine.  I can understand that.

I have come to a place where accuracy is more interesting to me.  I am fascinated to hear the "flaws" in recordings and marvel when I hear record-engineering excellence.  But it does take some adjustment to appreciate the underlying performance when you have a relatively transparent system and the recordings have glaring problems.

@ttbolad   You like Class D and are here to tell us that it is the next coming, LOL.

Everyone has to agree with you...otherwise they have a liking of ’euphonic concoctions’...SERIOUSLY!! LMAO!!

I guess you have never heard of the phrase.... IN MY HUMBLE OPINION! As that is something that I would suggest you end ALL of your future posts with, LOL....Oh, that is IMHO...;0)

I ran a Sumo Gold 125w 90lb Class A amp for eight years after having it rebuilt. That amp dated from around 1975. A little over a year ago, I replaced it with a Gryphon Colosseum stereo amp 165w Class A, 175lbs, from 2011. The difference between the amps is night and day in terms of sound quality and musicality. I would never go back to the Sumo. I can’t go back, I sold the Sumo.

@larrykell I think a ss amp from the 70’s is a very different animal from one dating back twenty years! There did seem to be some major improvements made between the seventies and the turn of the century in this area. Therefore, it doesn’t surprise me a bit that you much prefer your new(er) Gryphon amp to your old 70's era Sumo.

@daveyf Yes, it's true. I'm reaching back a bit into the 1970s but a Class A amp from that period still provides a lot of bang for the buck if you get one rebuilt. I certainly had to spend a lot more on the Gryphon to come up with an amp that was significantly better than the Sumo Gold.

I think amplifiers are constantly being improved. To say otherwise, is to argue that there is nothing left to invent in the field of amplifier design. 

What are some amps from twenty years ago that you think represent a good value?

I tried a Class D amp for a while when my Gryphon fell victim to either a huge power surge tied to a transformer explosion in Queens or a failure in one small part of the power supply, I'm just not sure which, but I'm thinking more and more it is the latter. 

The Class D amp replacement did absolutely nothing for me after listening to the Gryphon for nine months. Too bad, as I could have recouped a lot of money by selling the Gryphon.

I got beaten up pretty badly on some other forums about the Gryphon, with such comments as a $500 amp is as good as a $10k+ amp, yeah, right, only to find out that the people who were dismissing my amp had actually never heard or seen a Class A amp, lol. One guy had only seen a Class xHD amp, some kind of proprietary Class D amp. 

I guess I'm showing my age but I've decided to die on the Class A hill. I could care less about the additional heat, weight, and cost of electricity. For emotional involvement in the music, nothing does it for me like Class A. IMHO.