AudiogoN Forums: Amp design logic

Amp design logic

I hope you'll excuse my absolute and obvious ignorance...but this is a sincere question.

I don't get why one company is selling a new tube amp for ~$1000, and another is selling one for ~$50,000. What is one paying for? The proprietary circuit design?

Surely if one adds up the cost of the parts, trannies, chassis, etc. it's not worth $50K.

I accept that the more expensive one sounds lots, lots better. But what makes the price so high? Demand?

I think given a circuit diagram from a repair manual, I could eventually build most tube amps from scratch, using the absolute best of each part available. After I learn to solder. For less than $50K, just buying the best cap, resistor, wire, etc. made, for each part, I could slowly build an amp equal to the best in the world. So I don't get it.

What makes an amp worth $50K? It can only be the proprietary tube amp design.

Maybe another factor is the transformers. Each company seems to have their own iron, but that can't be a significant part of $50K?

Thanks, just really wondering about this. And wondering why don't I just make my own? If I buy one part at a time, eventually I can have the best amp there can be.

Jim

River251 (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

04-21-12

Responses (1-40 of 40)

Click title to read one, or click date to read all below it.

04-22-12 Very good question! Raytheprinter

04-22-12 The price of anything is always what someone is willing to p ... Mechans

04-22-12 You're right that the total components don't nearly add up t ... Ivan_nosnibor

04-22-12 (oops, hit the post button too soon). these people approach ... Ivan_nosnibor

04-22-12 I am surprising myself by asking the same sort of question l ... Arnettpartners

04-22-12 Take your own advice, just build your own. after you learn t ... Tpreaves

04-22-12 Look at car prices; a kia, mercedes and rolls royce all have ... Stanwal

04-22-12 So the parts (i am guessing) are 10% and a retailer marks up ... Mechans

04-22-12 Thank you all for the great discourse. i don't know that st ... River251

04-22-12 The price paradox: expensive gear adds to its own "exci ... Wolf_garcia

04-22-12 Also remember that generally the dealer makes more on the pr ... Hifigeek1

04-22-12 "excitable boy they all said"....all apologies to ... Tpreaves

04-22-12 imo, part of this pricing is hype. boutique parts can be ... Ths364

04-22-12 It would take me years of study to get to the point of build ... Grannyring

04-22-12 When i see people buying and selling $50k gear it reminds me ... Kijanki

04-22-12 Many factors presumably contribute to that $50k sales price, ... Almarg

04-22-12 Al, you're right of course, but you have to admit that my an ... Kijanki

04-22-12 Kijanki, i not only admit it but i second it :-) great line ... Almarg

04-22-12 What's the difference between a $2.4 million bugatti veyron ... Jmcgrogan2

04-22-12 A friend makes tube preamps by hand; when i bought one in th ... Stanwal

04-23-12 Stanwal, my friend was planning to do the same with amplifie ... Kijanki

04-23-12 Thanks for all the enlightenment everyone. i was really hopi ... River251

04-23-12 Can i take a vw beetle and use superior parts and get a buga ... Douglas_schroeder

04-23-12 Here are the questions... 1. between a 1k amp and a 50k amp ... Bryoncunningham

04-23-12 "best" in this context would have to refer to usin ... Almarg

04-23-12 Sometimes, (not all)you actually get what you pay for. in t ... Minorl

04-23-12 You can't turn a volkswagon into bugatti, but you can alter/ ... Mechans

04-23-12 River251, perhaps you might want to consider cutting your te ... Unsound

04-23-12 River251, with all due respect, based upon another recent th ... Unsound

04-23-12 As minor1 has stated, there are many who have failed in this ... Jmcgrogan2

04-23-12 Mechans, there is a difference between a modification and a ... Jmcgrogan2

04-24-12 Well. my question about amp design turned into a huge lesson ... River251

04-24-12 River251, here are some other things i did not see above. a ... Atmasphere

04-24-12 Any factory in any country is capable of building things wel ... Wolf_garcia

04-25-12 Wolf_garcia, 'capable', true enough. but if they do is anoth ... Atmasphere

04-25-12 Ralph the semiconductor industry is seeing a lot of rebrandi ... Rleff

04-25-12 I remember when us made fender guitars sucked...from the lat ... Wolf_garcia

04-26-12: Atmasphere

some Chinese component weirdness can trickle in

'Trickle' is really an understatement. I can give you plenty of other examples if you like. Just the tube sockets alone are example enough! Filter caps have been problematic as well as semiconductors, in fact in the semiconductor realm its become quite risky to buy parts off of ebay and the like because there are so many knock-offs now that won't meet spec.
Atmasphere (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

04-26-12 So no sandwich? Wolf_garcia

04-27-12 Depends- does it have mayonnaise? Atmasphere