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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   'trickle' is really an understatement. i can give you plent ...   Atmasphere 04-26-12   So no sandwich?   Wolf_garcia 04-27-12: Atmasphere Depends- does it have mayonnaise? Atmasphere  (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

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