High End Amp Price Collapse musings

@jimman2

Well, there’s a good argument to have. In the end, we don’t spend money to make oscilloscopes or microphones happy, it is all about what moves us to connect with and replay music, by ourselves or with those we love.

I think there is room for perfection as well as colorful re-production in that.


Best,

E

@johnk Has a point. It's not about the technology, it is about what the market will bear.

@audiofreak32
This is kind of my point. If you insist that a PASS is the very best (which you may) then no matter how good another amp sounds, if it is different, it won't be "as good" to you. So this "when will amp X ever be as good or better than amp Y" is kind of a setup.

From my perspective, having heard a nice, full Pass set-up, I cannot justify the spend vs. my Class D amps based on sound quality alone. Nor do I have the room or electricity budget! :)

My point is, Class D is very very good. Anyone waiting for Class D to reach "high end" is just not being objective. It has been there for years. If you want it to sound like your peculiar flavor of amp, well that's another thing. Yes, I have my own particular peculiarities too! :) I'm just saying, the wait for excellent Class D has been over for a while, but I must resign myself that my B&O powered amps will never sound like a pair of Conrad Johnson Premier 8, which you should all bow and worship... (hahahaha, j/k, but it IS my fave all time).

In any event, always make yourself happy with the money you spend.

Best,


E

markainsworth wrote:

Hi, I think that however good Class D becomes, it will always sound different than Class A, and a significant enough number of audiophiles will consider them worth their weight that the market for used class A / AB amps will not take a nose dive anytime soon.

And this really is the crux of the matter. Is any particular class-A amplifier really that great? or is it different?

What I mean is, if you say amp Abc is your reference, and then challenge any other amp to be "as good" then maybe none will because all will be "different."

I know some of the amps I like the most are just not that accurate. In fact they are quite colorful and euphonic. I think the ICEPower amps I'm listening to right now are actually much more accurate, terribly smooth and powerful with great soundstaging and no detectable noise.

In many dimensions these amps have eclipsed my all-time references the Conrad Johnson Premiere 8s. But better? Hmmmm, difficult question. I can say, for music and practical reasons I would not trade my amps for the CJ's right now.

Best,

E

Much has been said about Class D sound quality vs. other amps that I cannot add to that discussion.

However, I want to point out that even if Class D amps were proven best of the amps, this has nothing to do with pricing.

Capitalism 101: Price on value, not parts. Separate the price and cost as much as you can.

So assuming I made the worlds best amps, and they were class D I'd still sell them for $120k each monoblock. :)

Maybe I'd make them out of milled platinum ingots for "minimum resonance" or something.

The rise, or fall of any particular technology is not going to depress the high end pricing at all.

Best,

E