Do high dollar mono blocks truly improve the Sound Quality over the mid tier amps


I'm currently running a pair of Classe Delta Mono"s to drive my Wilson Alexx V's.  IMO they sound wonderful with plenty of power.  I've been considering upgrading these amps to the next price/quality level.  My biggest concern is whether I'll get the level of improvement in SQ that will move the needle.  I'd love to hear from folks who have made this move in their systems or heard comparisons at shows or dealers.  

128x128skinzy

Unfortunately, no one in this thread has responded to my question directly based on direct personal experience with an upgrade.

@skinzy I did. Apparently you didn't consider my answer valid, even though it was based on exactly what you asked about. I gave you an accurate answer; in case it was not obvious it can be boiled down to this: 'It depends.'

I gave the reasons why. Put another way, going up the line may or may not be an improvement; its entirely possible that something far less expensive might sound better.

I can go into the technical reasons why this is so if you are interested.

 

@skinzy 

Your points are well taken but how can anyone tell you if a higher priced amp will "move the needle" if you are not specific about the replacement in question and the only specification that seems to matter is the cost? Yes, higher priced amps should produce better SQ, but this will not always be the case. And even if I had the history of personally comparing some pricier amps with your Classe's, my opinion should only be a guideline; it's only your opinion that matters. Best of luck.

I recently upgraded from JC1 monos to a CH Precision M1.1. The differences are shocking, as they should be for the price difference. :)

what was the shocking difference you heard? could you put it in words?

20k --> 100k --> 5x needle movement?

$20k --> $60k (M1.1 in stereo is not $100k) 

3X the performance, difficult to quantify but absolutely worth the $ IMO.

Top to bottom it's just much more transparent, more detail, more precision/focus.  Soundstage has more depth, all the stuff I had hoped for it delivered.  

@skinzy 

Apologies, I meant the McIntosh MC901.

The model I referenced would probably be a step down from your Deltas.

And yes, you will get great hate on these forums for liking such a plebeian product, despite it costing six figures each.

@skinzy Over at SoundStageNetwork.com | SoundStage.com - SoundStage! Home the former reviewer there, Jeff Fritz, wrote several articles about vintage amps and how good they sounded to him. It was in his series on his amp search, his current reference amp was a $25k-ish used Boulder amp, and I think it was a Theshold or Coda amp that he used temporarily that made him wonder about the very expensive amps he was always reaching for.

Saying all of that, my most expensive electronic piece is my amp. I also hope to buy another brand-new amp for 2x the price of the used amp. It is not better than what I have but it sounds different. Variety.

BTW - I always like Classe amps.