High End Amp Price Collapse musings


If Class D amplification becomes accepted by audiophiles there should be a glut of high end amps (Krell, Levinson, Pass etc) becoming available on the used market at prices a fraction of what they are now.

Think CRT TV when the flat panels began emerging.I think Ill hold off on a new/used amp purchase for a little while. Maybe I will bet a Boulder.

Has any one else considered this?

energeezer
The thread has lost its focus on the original proposal, which is that IF class D becomes accepted by audiophiles there may be a glut of expensive "Big Iron" on the market at fire sale prices. Many have simply commented that that the IF will not happen because of quality differences between Class A, AB and D, real or perceived.

I would propose that the IF has actually begun to happen as more high end companies release their improved class D designs. I myself am entering into the research phase for new amplification for my 20 year old class massive class A/AB amplified 2 channel set up. One of the products I'm interested in is the BHK Signature 300 Monoblocs from PS Audio, a hybrid tube input/Mosfet output stage design of Bascom King.  At $15k MSRP they are expensive, but far from outlandishly so compared to many other products out there. That is low end Pass and medium end ARC, for example.  But Paul McGowan and his team are releasing a class D mono block that lists for 1/5th the price which naturally piques my curiosity. While I hope that the cheaper amps will not outperform or even remotely equal the sonics of their more expensive brethren, the question will most certainly be how musically satisfying are they for 1/5th the price.  If the answer is anything north of 80%, or simply fine nuance differences, I would have to seriously think about it before pulling the trigger on the 300s. Obviously since I am even considering the 300s I can afford them, but that is certainly not the case for many audiophiles.  $15k amps probably reside in $50k systems realistically.  But in a $20k system, which probably represents a lot of audiophiles, $3k amps would allow more opportunity to upgrade speakers, or add a music server or analog rig, etc. This will be good for high end manufacturers and I hope to see the technology continue to improve.




Agreed! I am listening to a Lyngdorf 2400 that is Class D and simply outstanding! Easily makes it obvious I can sell off those back breaking  70 pound amps of my past. This amp is simply outstanding! 

I am very happy with the Nuforce HT amp I am now running, about 35lb vs TWO 82lb lumps I was previously running.
Only downside I really have now is....what do I do with all that wide open empty rack space?
@speeddeacon 
'While I hope that the cheaper amps will not outperform or even remotely equal the sonics of their more expensive brethren...'  I don't understand why you would say that and you better get to much better than 80% if you are going to spend that kind of money.

My dream is that  a cheap amp outperforms and supercedes any amp no matter the price.  

And you can see, all this discussion is really not off-post as the Class A audiosnobs have already stated that Class D is vastly inferior (without citing specific direct comparisons) ...so those people will continue to pay whatever for those amps and thus the prices will NOT plummet.  Part of being an audiosnob is the appearance of their amp BTW - gotta have that 3/4 inch thick machined faceplate with fancy logo.  Remember though that's not just for appearance, that makes their amp sound much better due to the distortion reducing affect and the overall improvement to imaging and soundstage.
@jimman2, it's time to come clean.
Do you have some skin in this game?

You joined Audiogon 3 months ago, have 15 posts, ALL on this thread.
Don't you have any interest in anything audio related other than amplifiers?

You seem to enjoy busting on other folks amplifier purchases, but no interest in speakers, digital, analog, music, tech talk, or anything else in this hobby.

Are you a dealer or manufacturer? If not, what is your problem?