High End Amp Price Collapse musings

The thing about many of those big, heavy older Class A amps is that they were made so good. Think about it. Many people still have 1960’s and 70's McIntoshes at the heart of their system.

Which of the McIntoshes were Class A?  Must have been a secret series they released.  The Macs of the 60's were just slightly above class B, nowhere near in range of class A bias.

I'm also not impressed with the build quality of the big class A's.  I remembered a friend who bought some of the Levinson 25W heavy bias class A amps (got a partial "HQD" system then found he didn't much like it.  Put the amps in storage for about 10yrs).  Got them out later... oops the filter caps had gone bad.  Seriously, old Japanese 70's receivers have sat for that long and powered right up.

As Class D advances it will eat into the high end class A market.

Not yet advanced enough for me.  I tried but found out the hard way and have returned to big Class A iron, like Bilbo Baggins, "There and Back Again."

" Once Class D is close enough in quality even some of the deep pocket Krell, Pass etc guys will switch.
Once that happens they will sell thier existing gear which will gradually bring the value of that existing gear down giving not so deep pockets the chance to own true high end as it exists today."

And why exactly is this going to happen if Class D isn't demosntarbly better? 

Ok, ok, ok...so I hooked up my upgraded Krell Vanguard and compared to the BlueSound Powernode 2 it sounds....drumroll please.....more weighty, organic and smoother with increased presence.  I can also turn it up louder and the it doesn't get harsh.  That said, I still think that Class D has great potential.

With so many Class D amps and price points it's not possible so say Class D is not there yet, or I tried and it is not good enough yet etc...

All that can really be said is " I tried one or two and that particular amp was not as good as my...."  

We really cannot paint across the whole Class D universe with a broad brush. It is reasonable you like this or that amp better. 

I like my digital amp better then many of Tube and Class A amps I have owned, but I cannot say it bests all amps in the amp universe.