As far as straight 2 channel stereo goes, the old amps are still state of the art. What was high quality 35 years ago still is high quality. I have used my iPod with my Yamaha CA-800 and it sounds great through 4 large Advents with no sub involved. Although a lot of fans love 2 ch stereo, they don;t necessarily want to spend big $$$ for equipment which is very narrowly focused.
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Music system
Model 990/7500/Magnepan 1.6 QRs/Technics SL1200 MK2/Aperion S-12 Subwoofer/OWA3/Sony NS75H DVD
APC H15 Power Conditioner

TV System
Large Advent Loudspeakers/ Polk center/Monoprice surrounds/Panasonic Viera 42 inch/Onkyo HT-RC260/Sony BDP S590/Directv


Home Theater System
Onkyo PR-SC886/Outlaw 7125 Klipsch RF-82 L/R,RC-62 center, RB-35 SR/SL, BENQ HT1075, Outlaw LFM1-EX/OPPO BDP-83/Directv
Harmony ONE
Blue Jeans and Monoprice interconnects
APC H15 Power Conditioner