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

energeezer OP14 posts02-03-2017 1:59pmSome of you miss the point. The point is simple.


I believe this was your point:
energeezer OP14 posts02-01-2017 7:38pmAlthough 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.



So it seems that you have ZERO interest in this Class D amplifier technology. You simply want everyone else to buy into the Class D amplifier technology, and just "give" you their nasty old Class A A/B amplifiers.
Nice thread synopsis!

Perhaps we can convince folks to dump their silly, heavy, full range analog loudspeakers next. Obviously digital speakers are the wave of the future.
Maybe we can buy a pair of Magico S7's for a couple hundred bucks!! 

Believe in something hard enough, and maybe you can make it happen!!  ;^)

BTW, my Pass Labs XA-100.5's do sound terrific!!!
I did not like the Devialet that much and sold after 1 month of ownership. It was ok, but nothing special. I would not use it as an example of the best this technology has to offer. My Lyngdorf 2170 is much better and only $4000 or so. It comes with amp, pre, dac, room correction all in one package. Amazing piece. Everything is handled digitally and the room correction is the real game changer. Sold my TRL Dude and monoblock tube amps and enjoy the Lyngdorf even more! 

Lots of great gear out there for sure, not just Class D or digital amps. Sure this is all still very subjective. 

So it seems that you have ZERO interest in this Class D amplifier technology. You simply want everyone else to buy into the Class D amplifier technology, and just "give" you their nasty old Class A A/B amplifiers. 
Nice thread synopsis!

Perhaps we can convince folks to dump their silly, heavy, full range analog loudspeakers next. Obviously digital speakers are the wave of the future. 
Maybe we can buy a pair of Magico S7's for a couple hundred bucks!!  

Believe in something hard enough, and maybe you can make it happen!! ;^)

BTW, my Pass Labs XA-100.5's do sound
terrfic
I actually am intetested in the class D technology. Give it a bit more time. Bottom line is that the equipment that sounds amazing today will still sound amazing into the future. Thats great for everyone.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish I could get high end equipment cheap lol. Having said that; if prices drop on any used audio the value of all my equipment drops as well:)
Your pass labs is certainly a piece I would be proud to have although at this time I cant afford it. 
Something tells me I won't really be convincing the masses to dump thier silly equipment. That wasn't the intention. It really was a simple musing/speculation. Having said that I do see your interpretation. Over....
The economics mentioned in the first post assumes a rational market where demand is created by first order information. Consumers would buy the best product and shift demand based on somewhat perfect information. Hifi is more akin to religion. The opinion makers, which are in the most part the magazines, drive the demand. Once something is a few years old and no longer on this or that list, the demand and prices drop.

The situation is akin to Keynesian beauty contest analogy.

"It is not a case of choosing those [faces] that, to the best of one’s judgment, are really the prettiest, nor even those that average opinion genuinely thinks the prettiest. We have reached the third degree where we devote our intelligences to anticipating what average opinion expects the average opinion to be. And there are some, I believe, who practice the fourth, fifth and higher degrees." (Keynes, General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, 1936).

It’s immaterial whether Class D or Class A amps are better. By the way, I love my Pass Labs XA100.8. ;)