450 Pound Monobloc Amplifier

.
The Boulder monoblocs are $200k for a pair.
.

.
The 450 pound Boulder monoblocs are small potatoes compared to
the 1,000 wpc Krell Master Reference monoblocs seven years
ago. The Krells weighed 680 pounds per monobloc. Boulder
managed an extra 500 wpc and are 230 pounds lighter, so
compared to Krell, it looks like Boulder found a way to make
the amps smaller and more powerful.
.

.
Mark Levinson makes a switching monobloc, 500 wpc (8 ohms), but it weighs 150 pounds. Jeff Rowland, as mentioned above makes a 325 wpc (8 ohms) monobloc that weighs 54 lbs, probably 30 lbs of it is its heavy chassis.

I would really like to see where the other big names like Krell, Pass Labs, Bryston and the others could take the Class D or switching technology in the future. Even Audio Research has a switching amplifier. I'm sure if the brains of those companies pushed that technology forward, really high end sound would get more affordable.
.

.

Highly efficient, compact, light weight, 1500 watt DC switch-mode power supply provides optimum voltage regulation for all circuits and operating conditions, and allows for quiet operation over a wide range of AC mains power sources.

Guido...above is the quote from the Jeff Rowland site regarding the 725 monoblocs. Is the power supply switching technology mentioned there similar to the class D switching amps? I've heard class D amps referred to as 'switching' amps. Is this Rowland a 'switching' amp? No big power supplies in the Rowland to be seen.

Looking at the naked chassis before the innards are put in the amp, it looks like at least 60% or more of the weight is solid aluminum billet chassis.

Click Here To See The Aluminum Chassis...(scroll down when you get to the page)
.

.
Guido....class D or not...the switching power supply is what makes the amps able to be much smaller. That is the real point here...the ability to get good power in a smaller package.

I see that the Rowland has substantial sized heat sinks relative to the overall chassis size. Why would an amp with a switching power supply need heat sinks like that? I thought one of the main advantages of switching power supplies was a great reduction of amplifier heat.
.

.
Hey Tim, I think you are right on the money. I believe with a decent amount of money thrown at R&D, the switching amp could be to linear amps what digital cameras did to film cameras.

Bill, thanks for the explanation.
.

.
Tim, I love the sound of my Pass amps and I'm in no hurry to change. However, I have no loyalty or sentimental attachment to them. If I hear a set of switching amps that outshine them for less money, I'd change in a heartbeat and never look back. To me, its all about how an amp makes the music sound...and nothing else. For me, the best sounding amp wins, period.

Congrats to you for making the leap to a switching amp. I agree with you that having tubes in the chain could help warm things up. I should be fine in that area if I should go with a switching amp since I have tubes in my preamp, cd player and phono stage.
.

.

i was told many years ago in audio that if you bought by weight alone you could never go wrong

Tomtab, a lot of people were told the world was flat, tomatoes were poisonous, and the mean old lady that lived in the big old house across the street was a witch....did it ever occur to you that whomever told you to buy amps by weight alone could be wrong? The operative phrase in your post was 'many years ago'. A lot has changed and improved since 'many years ago'. The 21st century is here and it's moving forward with a vengeance. I currently have huge monoblocs in my system, but I'm certainly willing to...and will explore this new switching technology. I have nothing to lose if it doesn't pan out...and a lot to gain if it works out.
.

"A pair of monoblocs weighing right at a half-ton...amazing"

The post says a PAIR of monoblocs! The pair weighs 900 lbs...which is "right at" a half ton (1,000 lbs).

...geez, nitpickers.