This statement is also false in a sense of "mine is better than your".
Price No Object Amps
Just posting for human interest/curiosity purposes. I wouldn't suppose anyone on AGON has one of these, however, from a sonic performance perspective, which would you choose?
https://www.whathifi.com/features/10-worlds-most-expensive-stereo-amplifiers?utm_medium=EMAIL&ut...
https://www.whathifi.com/features/10-worlds-most-expensive-stereo-amplifiers?utm_medium=EMAIL&ut...
52 responses Add your response
gdhal: Just for curiosity, which one will you end-up buying? ;) I remain hopeful to be able to comfortably afford any one of them. It is a possibility, because I do play lotto regularly. At face value, just going by physical appearance and various articles I've read throughout the years, I would likely choose the Goldmund Telos 5000. |
no flame wars. just goofing about the prices, and aesthetics of some of this stuff, looks crazy. and costs more than my house, cars and all my belongings, and ice still need another 550K to afford it. it is funny how the %1 live. no worries,.. "speakers.....740K, nno prob, credit card ok? " WOW. i would not like that much money, only problems are caused. I'm still saving for Sanders monos' ! those will smoke any amp regardless of price. but it seems a little overkill for my Energy RC-70's :) |
"Have you ever been out of Mississippi?" Not sure what this comment is supposed to imply, but I've actually never been in Mississippi. On the other hand, I've have traveled many places in the world including the locations I referenced in my note. And my remarks were based on first hand experience. So is there something special I need to know about Mississippi or that was intended to be a very dry joke? |
hi John, yes, all is good and i hope the same with you....and thanks. agree completely that amps are a 'system synergy' type product. they can be a 'trophy' type product too. but at the top of the food chain the right better amps can make all the difference......they are the 'heart' of the system. the rationalization for investing in very expensive amplifiers requires a specific set of priorities. OTOH there are fine sounding amps at all price points. and not all expensive amps sound that way......and many of them need very particular systems to flourish. the expensive tube amps typically need particular NOS tubes to really shine. so this whole subject is multi-dimensional. |
Hi Mike, I was going to comment that the closest thing I've heard to those amps would be when I've heard yours! It it would be hard for me to believe that any of those would sound much better than your Dart Zeals. Of course, it's all about the "system" not one particular piece. Hope me you've been well! John |
LP, you are the one that made this claim; "Somehow I feel that anyone serious about purchasing one of these models is probably not primarily motivated to obtain the absolute sound." so it’s on you to support it. how can you know someone’s motivation for buying something? when most/many times they don’t even clearly know it. and you used the term "anyone".......not....."I know of some people". generalizations are very difficult to support and polarize people. my point was not to judge. if you feel you are in a position to judge then help me/us to understand how you know these things about 'anyone'. |
....I will put my Sunfire sig 600 against these behemoth's (name drop) any day of the week. Bob KNOWS what he is doing..... @arcticdeth I know what you mean about Bob Carver gear. I had an MXR-130 for almost 30 years. While it was no match for the McIntosh MA5200, Krell Vanguard or Musical Fidelity M6si I auditioned, even the dealer commented how good the 30 y/o Carver sounded (I specifically brought it to the dealer for my comparison/audition). |
"If you guys want to get an idea what market these "toys" are targeted at, take a trip to one of the Gulf states in the Middle East; Qatar Dubai, etc., and browse some of the stores near the luxury hotels. I suspect the Chinese market is not too far behind but I'm guessing that market is a bit more selective and doesn't react quite the same way to shiny objects. No offense is intended, just an observation." Have you ever been out of Mississippi? |
If you guys want to get an idea what market these "toys" are targeted at, take a trip to one of the Gulf states in the Middle East; Qatar Dubai, etc., and browse some of the stores near the luxury hotels. I suspect the Chinese market is not too far behind but I'm guessing that market is a bit more selective and doesn't react quite the same way to shiny objects. No offense is intended, just an observation. |
the prices of this stuff is just out in space. I will put my Sunfire sig 600 against these behemoth's (name drop) any day of the week. Bob KNOWS what he is doing. class A, spacious air around instruments, the subtle nuance of the distant triangle pinging and its decay is effervescent.... give me a break, only power is real. :) any of our normal to above cost gear will be the same, or no sound difference compared to these way overpriced cash grab audio. Only difference, is the people THINK they are getting some one of a kind, or some super amp, yes they are, it costs 300K, and my (your) amp was only 400$ - 3K, and the sound is no different, only difference is these jamokes drop 300K on them and we only spend 2K, and most of OUR amps will sound the same. they sell because of arrogance, and people with nothing better to do spending their fortunes on the stuff. enjoy the music. :) don't believe the hype |
Yeah, but used prices might be within the reach for some. Problem is, besides the price, that they will be very difficult to find used. Still, $50k is not $500k, terrible but not outrageous, and $130k is somewhere in-between. I keep hearing praise of Gryphons and Ypsilons, though. I bet, I would have a hard time choosing between Gryphon Diablo and Ypsilon integrateds if I had to. |
I have heard none of these. I have heard the Ypsilon Set Ultimate 100's and they were amazing.,For $130000 for the pair they would want to be. Another amp I love is The Gryphon Anthillion Evo. Only around $50000.... cheap lol. But it walks the line so well between ultimate speaker control and otherworldly midrange insight. I play at a fair lower level with amps like the Onkyo M608 and Luxman M03 but these are fine. Some ultra fi is getting way beyond a joke in price today really. |
@gdhal And it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s one of yours :)You're right, but it was the S-30, which costs about 2 orders of magnitude less. Even if gold wire is used, I don't see how a product doing what some of the amps on this list do could cost that much. But there is something called the Veblen Effect, which has to do with the idea that when something costs more, you are also getting a greater value. Which means that they could be priced high to invoke a sense of greater value. Quite often though the 2nd hand market sorts those sorts of things out. |
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I can think of a few amps costing a lot less that actually sound better; in two cases having heard them side by side (although that was a few years ago). @atmasphere And it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s one of yours :) http://www.atma-sphere.com/Products/#MA-3 |
Still, those are freightening amounts of dead Washingtons, even to hardcore audiophiles. Besides, you would really need big and well-tuned room to make full use of, say, half a million dollar system. However, $5 for a cup of good coffee in Manhattan is not fun either, and some have three every day. Do the math, how much would they spend for 25 years? |
This list has some real bargains! http://www.milliondollarstereos.com/speakerlist.php?category=amps&pagenum=1 |