What sounds best integrated or separates?

Marankanetz; I disagree.

Assuming material, design integrity, etc. Are consistent between the two. Integrated will always sound better. Think about it...no extra cables...short signal path, etc...

gregm had it right. the poster wants to know 'what sounds best'. is there really any objective answer to this? design, signal paths, wattage,etc... ad infinitum have nothing to do with it as far as this particular question goes...in my humble opinion. which tastes better, filet or N.Y. strip? i like a pittsburgh style sirloin even tho it costs much less. i like the jolida you already own btw! snob appeal is more associated with seperates by and large and they do look impressive sitting amongst an array of wires, tubes, meters, cables, switches etc. in this marketing crazed industry this is a BIG plus for hi-ticket manufacturers.

I believe we should admit that, theoretically, integrateds should sound better than separates. Reality CAN be very different though.

I'm sure there are some excellent sounding integrated amps out there & the one excellent solid state integrated that comes to mind is the Portal Panache. But for me I feel they restrict the persons ability to experiment with different preamps. So for that reason separates are the way to go unless space is an issue.

04-01-07: Pawlowski6132
I believe we should admit that, theoretically, integrateds should sound better than separates. Reality CAN be very different though.

When evaluating theoretically, one has to look at all aspects. You list the positive attibutes of the integrated amp earlier, shorter circuit paths, fewer cables. However, you neglect to mention the positive attributes of seperates like power supply isolation and size. Both designs, integrated and seperates, have their own plus' and minus'.
You have to look at all the parameters when judging the best theoretically.

The practicality of it is that a lot of equipment sounds better with a larger, more stable power supply. Seperates can give you a larger power supply, and better ways to isolate them. That's why many preamps have seperate power supplies, to isolate the EMF from the smaller, line level signals.

Yes, shorter signal paths and lower costs are positive attributes for the integrated amps. However, seperates also have their positive attributes, namely larger power supplies and isolation techniques.

John