I think in the 70's and 80's when the average home could get a really nice HiFi sound for not much money, separates kicked off. Amps such as the NAD 3020a and similar good quality budget speaker were great. Now with the advent of the ipod, WiFi, smart phones, ipod docks and netbooks etc the majority of the population can not really justify spending hundreds on separates. The sound might not be as good but it's far easier and cheaper to just use docking station or laptop for music listening and maybe some headphones. It's all about how much people are willing to spend on listening to music, and the amount is decreasing.
I still think theres a good reason to use separates. It all depends on the source you want to listen to. If it's AV you probably need more boxes, speakers and cables but if it is a simple two channel music system theres nothing bad about a CD player, amp and speakers separately. Thats only 2 boxes (doesn't take up much space) plus the speakers. In the next 5-10 years I hope there will be more active speakers on sale. There seems to be lots of cheap actives (usually close range monitors and desktop models) and then lots of expensive ones but not much in the low- middle range that can compete with a budget £300 passive speaker.
Another point is room size. If you need the music to fill a medium-large size room and possibly drive powerful sounding speakers then separates are far better than say a small Denon or Marantz integrated system.
Also if you are going second hand, separates are better for mix and match and also re-sale as well as being cheaper. More bang for your buck.
Lastly, if something goes wrong with an integrated it usually has to be taken down the tip but you wouldn't have to replace your whole setup if you are using separates.
I still think theres a good reason to use separates. It all depends on the source you want to listen to. If it's AV you probably need more boxes, speakers and cables but if it is a simple two channel music system theres nothing bad about a CD player, amp and speakers separately. Thats only 2 boxes (doesn't take up much space) plus the speakers. In the next 5-10 years I hope there will be more active speakers on sale. There seems to be lots of cheap actives (usually close range monitors and desktop models) and then lots of expensive ones but not much in the low- middle range that can compete with a budget £300 passive speaker.
Another point is room size. If you need the music to fill a medium-large size room and possibly drive powerful sounding speakers then separates are far better than say a small Denon or Marantz integrated system.
Also if you are going second hand, separates are better for mix and match and also re-sale as well as being cheaper. More bang for your buck.
Lastly, if something goes wrong with an integrated it usually has to be taken down the tip but you wouldn't have to replace your whole setup if you are using separates.
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