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Vandersteen Amp?

I've seen pictures on line of the new Vandersteen M7-HPA. It's a hybrid amp putting out 600 watts as I recall but designed to only play above the 100 Hz frequency levels. It's intended to pair with his speakers utilizing a powered sub, especially the Model 7 I would think. Projected price $35,000-$40,000.

The pictures I've seen look like a pure prototype. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with these monoblocks in operational form? It sounds like an interesting concept, eliminating the need for the high pass filter between the pre amp and amp. Still, it's significantly more costly than the Ayre MX-r and the Audio Research Ref 250s both which work very well with the Vandersteen speakers. Will this be worth the price for a manufacturer's first step into the realm of stand alone power amps or for a pair of monoblocks only for use with speakers having a powered woofer?

My guess is that any Vandersteen product is a pretty safe bet.
sonofjim
sonofjim OP
557 posts
 
My guess is what you end up with for this price is an amp that is a near perfect match for the speaker in question. You could certainly spend that much chasing your tail trying out amps until you found merely a very good match.

I would guess it's too early for impressions on this amp to surface. You would think the Model 7 paired with these monos might be the ultimate embodiment of the Vandersteen sound, until the Model 9 comes out. What could be in line for this, and at what cost? Model 9?
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
That's the direction the entire market is headed...up, up and away. Richard is simply following the market, like every other high end company trying to stay in business.

Folks just don't want to spend $20K on a system anymore, they want to spend $200K+. The rest of you can shop at Walmart. ;)
daverz
487 posts
 
If Richard can get some plutocrats to pry open their wallets, that's fine with me. As long as some of that money "trickles" down to improvements in his more affordable speakers.
taters
1,149 posts
 
Even though you may see 200k systems on Audiogon it's not the norm. The average person probably has a 500-1000 stereo.
It's the same thing if your on www.ferrarichat.com It seems like everyone is driving a Ferrari. The reality is very few people are driving Ferrari's. I live in Southern California where there are more Ferrari's than anywhere in the world. I rarely ever see one.
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
I lived in Los Angeles for 10 months, and saw more Ferraris there in 10 months than in 50 years in Pennsylvania. LOL!

You are right about the average person stereo Taters, but then the average person has probably never heard the Vandersteen name. I've noticed in general, the high end manufacturers prices are going up, waaaaay up. I can't think of a single manufacturer whose top of the line product isn't at least twice the price of his top of the line 5-8 years ago. Many have gone up 3, 4 or even 5 fold.

For instance, VAC's top of the line preamp used to be $10-12K, now it's $50K. They used to sell several models under $10K, now, you can't buy anything under $10K. VAC is NOT an anomaly, it's the norm in the industry. I can't blame them, they are simply chasing the money trail.
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