Thanks Jason
I just love my system, it's such a sleeper till you get into the driver seat. It's just pure sonic heaven and beyond. I just love all that power. 350 wattsX6+200 wattsX2, 1000 Sub+400 Watt Sub + 400 Watt Powertowers. I fell like I am going into out of space, it's just great to have all the power at your fingertips. I don't care what anybody thinks or says, nothing like brute force.
You want to know what's changed in amplifier technology to make it potentially better than amplifiers of the classic design such as your Cinepro?...efficiency. Taking less input wattage to achieve more total output through new amplifier topologies.
I'm not a very car savvy person, but I would like to use this auto comparison (a vague but clear one) to illustrate what I mean. Think of the biggest baddest muscle car that you've drooled over for it's brute power, bold looks, and top notch construction eons beyond it's time. Have an image of that muscly machine inside your head?..good. Now fast forward to now. I seem to recall a recent discussion surrounding Ferrai where they have plans to unleash a new line of efficient super cars. Using lighter materials and new technology in aerodynamics they can make a car that goes faster and uses less fuel than that sexy american muscle. The muscle car will always hold a special place in your heart, and in all our hearts. The unfortunate business concerning automobiles is that Toyota doesn't get to use Ferrai's old designs when the patents run out (if there are even patents for such things, I don't know cars) to come up with a cost effective way to mass produce such a thing. Electronics are cool that in the regard that when someone comes up with a truly innovating method of amplification that pretty much anybody can get on board and start rolling with it.
There are a lot of classic audio components I have in my own collection I will never give up, even if their performance is not comparable to what's out there in the current market. I'm not saying ditch your Cinepro by any means, it's still an outstanding piece of equipment. I've got nothing that compares to it and currently I don't need anything that compares to it. I enjoy stuff like that as much as the next guy.
When someone has a budget like the OPs I suggest the most effective way to use those funds, and spending it on something that is either a minuscule or completely irrelevant transfer seems like a crazy thing to do.
Would anyone disagree that room acoustics and/or the speakers are the most significant parts of an audio system? Would anyone disagree that the best chance to advance this system on a notable to highly significant level should be addressed by looking into acoustics and/ or speaker upgrades? I find it hard to believe that anyone would place so much importance on "what brand" of power we are using, because that's pretty much all that would be changed and possibly the perception of the user. No signicant audible advantage could be had from upgrading to another sub-100wpc integrated amplifier, and upgrading to more power would only be significant for higher output.
