Point to Point vs Circuit Board

If you design the board properly you simply won't be able to tell the difference between a properly hand wired example vs the same circuit on a circuit board.

Some may not but some may. Many times we played beat the proto...

Some may not but some may. Many times we played beat the proto...

This is why I was careful to use the word 'properly'.

Atma Sphere makes fine, well designed products. I'm not slagging them off, but 'properly' has nothing to do with it.

There are vast differences between controlled impedances on a circuit board and a hand wired prototype. SS gear can shrink by 50% between prototype and release changing noise radiation and absorption. A PCB has maximum track separation of 1 thickness between sides, contains ground planes and power distribution, all of which can affect the sound. PCB materials can affect the sound. Maintaining PCB tolerances in a handwired prototype is next to impossible. Prototypes types of any ilk are seldom evaluated in the retail packaging. Parts used in the prototype are sometimes superseded / improved necessitating a few steps back or sideways...

Simple circuits of tube amps invite point to point wiring, but for a solid state amp you would have wiring everywhere along with interference caused by all the wiring going everywhere, the routing would become too complex for sure.

@speakermaster thank you. That answers what I was curious about.