https://www.reddragonaudio.com/collections/amplifiers/products/m500-mkii?variant=248192058
Hello bolduque,
Georgehifi is correct, the Red Dragon 500 monoblocks were discontinued about a year ago and the price was reduced to $799 each, while supplies lasted. The supplies only lasted a few months on both the silver and the black color options of these monoblock models because they're high quality amps that received very good reviews that were offered at an extreme bargain price. I had even attempted to buy a pair of these amps as soon as I heard of the clearance price reduction but they were already sold out of both black and silver models. Here's a copy of the Positive Feedback review that inspired me to try a pair of Red Dragon S500 monos:
https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/red-dragon-audio-m500-and-m1000-mkii-amplifiers-2/
I called Red Dragon at the time and sent an email to them a couple of times requesting a back order and any upcoming new models. Here is their response:
"Ryan Tew Mon, Jul 22, 2019, 3:17 PM
Hi Tim We are working on an entirely new MkIII generation and hope to have them ready later this year. Thanks, Ryan Tew President - Red Dragon Audio www.RedDragRyan Tew <ryan@reddragonaudio.com>Tue, Oct 8, 2019, 6:36 PMto me
Hi Timothy,
We are working on a redesign of the chassis and at the same time we're pushing a new product lineup (and a MkIII version of the S500 and M1000).
Look for us to be ready in 2020Q1
Ryan Tew
President - Red Dragon Audio"
Well, it's already the 1st quarter of 2020 so it seems like Red Dragon's new MKIII version debut of their amp lineup should hopefully be introduced and available very soon.
You asked on your first post about the differences between the various class D power modules: ICE Power, Hypex and Pascal. The truth is there's more to the overall sound of any class D amp than just the power module used. In general, all these class D amp modules have such low distortion and background noise levels, are so accurate, neutral and detailed that even small variances in their associated components and design can result in variances in performance; things such as custom input boards, the switching transistors employed, the switching carrier frequency filters and perhaps even the specific carrier switching frequency utilized.
As I believe you know, utilizing separates rather than your current AVR requires not only a separate stereo amp or monoblock amps, it also requires a separate preamp for connecting and switching between the sources used (turntable, CD, dac/streamer, etc.). Class D amps are in general so neutral that the sound quality of the preamp will be a critical factor in your system's overall sound. I still believe the speakers are the predominate factor in overall system sound but, if class D amps are in the audio chain, the preamp becomes the 2nd most critical factor in a system's overall sound quality.
Later,
Tim