$39,000.oo Aavik Acoustics U-380 Class-D integrated amplifier

I think pesky_wabbit stated it well. Agree 100%. 
I know an a'phile who actually bought a few of these Aavik pieces, paid close to retail, went to sell them in the used market...and paid a large price to dump them! Now whether this price was acceptable to him or not is another issue, but a very major depreciation was the outcome. ( Far more than usual in this instance!).

Are the parts in a comparably-priced A/B amplifier (Gryphon, D'Agostino, Soulution, etc.) more expensive than the ones in this amp? How much more expensive?

Anyway, using the price of parts to assess profit margin is problematic to say the least.

Are the parts in a comparably-priced A/B amplifier (Gryphon, D’Agostino, Soulution, etc.) more expensive than the ones in this amp? How much more expensive?

The cost differences are massive >50, especially when you factor in the power supplies also (SMP v Linear), for the same wattages compared to one of A/B’s you’ve chosen.
  
That’s why the mighty buck increase looks so tempting to the Class-D makers and swingers.

To give you an idea just one of the power supply caps in a linear amp you mentioned can cost as much as the whole SMP power supply in a Class-d

Cheers George

Personally that is too much money for any amp much less a Class D which is supposed to be about more for less but sounds like it competes sound wise with comparable products so why beat on this particular product? It’s an integrated amp with dac and phono so the amp is not the whole story.

Lets consider, for a minute, the First Watt SIT-3.

What are you paying for?

The Black box? The handful of components in it? Nope, you are paying for the creativity and design skill of Nelson Pass. Never heard a SIT 3, want to badly and suspect I would like it.

The whole, when done properly, is far greater than the sum of its parts.

Hence my earlier comment regarding artwork.

Material costs in a painting? Nominal. Perceived value? Sometimes, astronomical.

How many in this thread have actually heard the 39K pretty black box?