The End Of Big Iron?

I'm into monster Class A amps instead of A/B; Accuphase, Pass Labs, etc. Class A just sounds better. :D

@mitch4t, I think you may like what you hear from class D. I used to have what, to me, was "big iron"...an ATI1506 6x150 amp. Not huge power output like you guys are talking about, but man I hated having to move that thing. Threw off a lot of heat, and was just onerous. Felt like it weighed 75 pounds - maybe it actually did. I bridged it to put out 450wpc into my home theater fronts, but had to sell it when my business turned down in 2008. I did regret selling it, and wished I hadn't for a long while - it just looked so cool (when I wasn't trying to relocate it).

Fast forward, and I now have a Peachtree Grand Integrated running a pair of WB Arcs - power overkill for sure, but I've got 440wpc on tap, it's the size of a small stereo receiver, and barely gets warm. And the sound is absolutely luscious. It's amazing that so much power can come from something with such a nice footprint, without much heat thrown off. I admit - I still think "big iron" amps look so cool, but there's something to be said for one's audio equipment not dominating your living space - before I bought the Peachtree I almost bought a Bel Canto, so nice looking with such a small footprint. I like that trend.

Class D is basically high efficiency amp technology that is newer than traditional Class A or B, but has come into its own these days when power and current is still needed but not the size, bulk, and cost.

I love my Class D amps and will likely never look back from here. That includes tube amps as well.

I had a Class D amp. I didn't care for it and it ran out of gas early and overheated. To be fair, it was a mass produced Onkyo, and it's probably not the ultimate in Class D design. Right now, I have an A/B amp; the sound is good, but not phenomenal. It is a bit restricted dynamically. It doesn't breathe like a great Class A amp will. But it doesn't really run out of gas and overheat like the Onkyo did. Anyway, those are my thoughts at the moment on Class D and amps in general.

I think there was an escalating contest among "big iron" manufacturers of the day. Consumers tend to latch onto categorical assets, real or otherwise, and when makers get that scent they run with it. In the case of the amps in question, momentum carried them well beyond anything sane or useful before common sense among consumers signaled a cease and desist to Krell and their competitors.

As an aside, does anyone else think that Krell looked like what the army would create if they were designing amplifiers.