integrated amp vs Pre&power amp combination.

The question can't be answered because the answer really depends on the integrated at hand and the pre-power combo at hand, and then of course the peculairities of the physical setup and your application.

If gain is needed there are physical limitations to the integrated and the pre-pwr is the next tier up. However, some pre-pwr are not as good as some integrateds and vice versa. And when you have to sell a product, designers probably get caught up in what's going to sell versus what would've been the best sound for the money in a finished product.

Kina depends on what you get i suppose. Some people say that seperates sound better. I dunno,.. i have an integrated and plan to always have one. Maybe give some idea of price range models etc.

It's not that one is better than the other, both are electronics in a box, crude description I know. You could stuff the same electronics that are in a two box setup into one, with some shielding, and get the same or better results.

Integrated's are more budget minded and in all actuality the manufacturer should be saving money with an integrated as you have one "unit" to create and one packaging system.

That said, if the user wants to upgrade, you have more flexibity with separates. In all out high-end, generally separates are it, they may some mega-buck integrated I am unaware of for $30,000 or something.