An external amp that has any sand will provide slightly clearer sound at higher volumes and times when there’s a lot going on.
That pretty much sums up the whole issue in one sentence.
What makes it tricky is that the actual voltage/current limits of the amplifier (and how it behaves at the limit) do not correspond exactly to the power rating, which is why you see reports of "good" 100WPC amps sounding better than "cheap" 100WPC amps.
I'm starting to think we should set up some kind of loaner program where we all chip in a bit of money then buy one piece of "no compromises" equipment and ship it around so everyone can put it in their system and see what kind of improvement it makes before spending any serious coin. Once everyone has a chance to try it out the first piece of expensive kit we could sell it off and start trying out something else.
This is pretty common practice on a number of forums dealing with smaller, lighter stuff (eg $300 flashlights), guess we should check out shipping costs on a 70 pound power amp before going any further
