Are integrated amps technically better than separates?

A preamp and amp sharing the same power supply in the same box is inherently problematic but that doesn't mean some integrateds won't sound better than some separates - in fact they often will at lower price points.  To generalize though, separates have the advantage by design. 

aberyclark

Better than separates- No, not today. Are we getting closer- Yes.

Another consideration, is the pre-amp section of an integrated amp getting better?  To my ears, yes, significantly better in comparison to the last 10 years.


Happy Listening!

If the separates are integrated poorly then yes. 

So I would be interested to see what the answers would be if the OP had specified "at the same price point."

In a perfect world, where everything is equal, and for any given amount of money spent by the designer manufacturer, yes. Why? less money on chassis, better control of interfacing, fewer wires.

Now on the real world :-)

Nothing’s every equal. And separates have a cachet that means most designers' time will be spent on  separates, if the products are designed for  high end hobbyists.

That said i have a prototype integrated amp running right now, in my living room, and its every bit as good as the separates that it replaces, which cost at least 3x as much. Maybe more.
But that’s one of those cases where most of the major things ARE equal - because i made them so.

In terms of sound/dollar, if someone wants to make a better integrated, compared to equally priced separates, its pretty easy to do so, and very hard to do the opposite.  Consider that the chassis is the single most expensive part of every component, and the packaging + shipping is sometimes #2.

So this isn’t rocket science.

That said i have found few integrated amps that really perform at the very high end; which is why this prototype exists. And oh, is it ugly!

G