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

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.

@larrykell I think there are a number of very competent ss amps from that period that present a good (great?) value today, among them are the fore mentioned Rowland amps, several from Mark Levinson, Symphonic line, Pass labs, the Coda amps and a few others.

I agree daveyf. Symphonic line makes fine amps, and even an older one would hold its own today.