High End Amp Price Collapse musings


If Class D amplification becomes accepted by audiophiles there should be a glut of high end amps (Krell, Levinson, Pass etc) becoming available on the used market at prices a fraction of what they are now.

Think CRT TV when the flat panels began emerging.I think Ill hold off on a new/used amp purchase for a little while. Maybe I will bet a Boulder.

Has any one else considered this?

energeezer
The time may be coming, maybe not. Class D is not really new, it's been around for about 15 years now. I seem to think that Class D was more popular 10 years ago than it is today.

You keep trying to compare Class A to CRT TV's, how about you compare it to vinyl?
35(?) years after the release of digital, and vinyl is still very much alive.

Trying to guess what audio products will gain favor and which will lose favor in the next 10-25 years would seem to be an exercise in futility.
Mental gymnastics, nothing more.
I compare the two because I am very familiar wit CRT and its slow demise. I see the amp situation to be somewhat similiar.
I agree vinyl is very alive and I agree Class D is not ready for high end prime time. I dont believe high end class A ala Krell, Pass etc will ever disappear. I just see the possibility of breakthroughs in Class D as a great thing for budget USED high end if Class D ever becomes the standard. To say it will never happen or that it absolutely will happen is folly.
The title is High End Amp Price Collapse musings and you are correct. Musing could be substituted for Mental Gymnastics.
This is nothing serious....just fun.
Life is short, how long are you willing to wait and maybe miss out on what you want to enjoy?
Although I did say I was waiting I know I can't. Ill lose my mind.My Aragon 8008 (admittedly not true high end) has been at the shop for 6 weeks now and I’m suffering withdrawl.
If it isn’t ready soon or can’t be economically repaired I will buy something similar. Nope..Not class D. Maybe by the time my next upgrade is due Class D will be the standard and I'll be able to afford that Pass Labs 250x I drool so heavily over.