Are integrated amps technically better than separates?

It's very hard for the owner of separates to say an integrated is better, and vise a versa (SP?) I believe, so you have to factor that into how may grains of salt you take responses with. That being said, I have chosen a class D integrated, the best I could afford at the time, and a separate phone section. I am quite happy. But that's just me.

Hopefully you've spent a larger portion of your overall investment in tonearm/cartridge and table and your phono section you mentioned is a good one.

I think you've got the power section down as long as it can push your speakers effortlessly.

I compared the Luxman 509x integrated vs the Luxman c900u and m900u. The separates were so much better. Now maybe I should have compared with the Luxman c700u and m700u to make it an apples-to-apples comparison. 

I compared the Hegel 360 with the top end Hegel separates and the separates were better.

Another thing I like about separates is that they can fit better into a room. The room is a huge part of the sound we get. I like short speaker wire and long XLR interconnects. I also like to keep the space between the speakers clear of a rack, just the amp(s) residing there.

I compared the Luxman 509x integrated vs the Luxman c900u and m900u.

Oh for peete's sake.  You compared a $9,500 integrated to a combination that runs ~ $40k. How does this tell you anything?

Well Pete, the Luxman integrated is all that Luxman have in there SS stable, so it seemed like the appropriate comparison. I did say that the Luxman 700 series maybe more appropriate comparison for the 509x. I was comparing units from within the same brand as with the Hegel comparison I made. What value does comparing from different manufactures make. I do not see the value of your logic comparing a similarly priced integrated from another brand with the Luxman or Hegel separates. The house sound is what I am comparing.

The 900 series is actually $15K each MSRP so using the new math the youngsters are doing these days makes it $30K.

I was going to buy the c900u preamp but I got something that was better for me at $3K. I guess it must not be as good since it is cheaper. This preamp is going to be paired with the Luxman m900u amp or something a little bit higher in cost (must be better then).