Integrated >10 yrs old. Newer=upgrade?

A brand new piece of mass market junk will still sound worse than a 10-yr-old high end unit. The new one simply has cheaper parts in it. The DACs that were state of the art 10 years ago can still sound superior, even if their specs suffer in comparison with newer units, because the rest of the old unit's design reduces the noise floor, increases signal-to-noise and separation, etc.

I seriously doubt the Carver has any DAC in it. This is a stereo integrated amp, not a HT receiver.

Obviously the only way to know for sure is to audition these amps....A/B them if possible. Short of that, I think the Cambridge Audio will give the Carver a serious run, even with the Carver's superior power output.

The Carver I'm sure was a nice upgrade from the cheap Onkyo you had, but that amp is on par soundwise with all the many different amps I've tried, so to replace it with a cheaper Denon or CA integrated would yield probably no audible improvement, the BEST you could hope for would be equal quality, but then you just threw your money out the window. There's a reason vintage amps are still highly sought after on the used market. Until you suck it up, and get out of those mass market Infinity speakers, keep your money, you've hit your max, sorry to say. The Primus 360s have a seperate midrange, so if that's the best you can afford, that'll probably be a big upgrade from your 250s. If the speaker is well balanced and placed, the bass shouldn't be a problem. Most reviews on the 360s still complain of a lack in bass anyway. I know you always say you can't imagine how you could possibly get a better sounding speaker, we all have at one point, until you actually hear one, then you'll get it. Forget the amp upgrade for now, upgrade the speakers!

That Carver is a wonderful little integrated, and really the only way you will improve on it is if you go to separates. If you ever need more power(it won't run 4-ohm speakers w/o clipping), just get a separate amp, and use it as a preamp, it sounds great!

It is enjoyable watching your attitudes evolve. There are so many people around here who simply KNOW stuff (stuff I usually disagree with) who never actually try something different because they just KNOW it doesn't matter.

You at least are willing to try, to listen, and to re-evaluate your positions.

It's refreshing.

Claiming things without ever having experience behind your words always sounds a bit silly and makes it hard for anyone to take you seriously. This is just a general statement.