20 Year Old Amplifiers compared to 2017

I tend to agree with willemj (and Peter Walker of Quad). All well-designed amps with sufficiently low output impedance and operated below clipping will sound the same.These claims of superiority over rivals are mainly marketing hype!

Could not disagree more. Class D amps are indeed on the cutting edge and the future. Even better .... powered dacs. Powered dacs with room correction are another huge development. In the future there will be no such thing as a separate, stand alone Amplifier. They will simply be modules built into digital gear. Immense innovation has taken place. In 20 years amp modules will fit in the palm of your hand and be the norm.  

I find today's Pass amps better than Pass amps of 20 years ago

Although design can remain the same, better capacitors, faster diodes, higher quality resistors will make a difference.

There is one variable we can not quantify, and that is "hearing"; some of us can hear better than others. Although I have never heard a class D amp, I can not imagine one as good as a tube amp; however, as good as a SS amp is conceivable.

If people listened blindly, I bet they would be willing to settle for a cheaper SS amp than the one they were lusting for, but there are those with exceptional hearing.

All the nuances in music only come through in the best systems, which is why the resurgence of analog; there's nothing like the best vinyl.

In the conversations we have, there isn't much difference between, we'll say SS amps in the high end. Those who can hear the differences, are most fortunate.

I can't subscribe to the notion that all competently measuring amplifiers sound the same. Why?? Because my ears tell me differently. Way back 20 years ago a Krell amp sounded quite different from a Mark Levinson. Just recently, I had the chance to hear both Ayre and D'Agostino amplifiers in my system. Same result. They sound Significantly different. I always have my wife, as a second set of ears, confirm what I hear. Since I know what I'm changing, I give her the opportunity to hear blindly. I won't tell her what I change. I simply ask her to describe what she hears. About 80% of the time we agree on what we hear.