2. amps-preamps
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Class D is affordable and sounds as good or better the SS/Valve why buy anything else ?

I have spent a fair amount of my hard earned money on big ticket brand new SS and VT/Valve amplifiers over the years without hesitation, with state of the art 2019 class D amplifiers becoming cheaper and sounding better, i wouldn't join in again.

For older technology amplifiers SS VT/Valve to compete with State of the art class D, Their prices are going up and up.

One example is Pilium Audio from Greece or Bulgaria their Divine Line the prices are all over £100,000 for their pre amps and power amps, I know the UK importer he said they sound OK,

Another example FM Acoustics again up to and over £100,000 for pre and power amps. i have owned FM Acoustics pre and power again their OK,

I am not saying they do not sound good, i am saying why spend this much when state of the art class D probably sounds as good now and can only improve with the GaN capacitors and is nearly up to 100 times cheaper.

Is there still a market for multi thousand £$s SS or VT/Valve amplifiers ?

When class D finally overtakes SS VT/Valves what will people do with their multi thousand £$ amplifiers, keep them knowing there is something better ? Or will we see the market flood with exotic used amplifiers ?

Digital technology is rapidly growing pace and becoming cheaper, with GaN capacitors being introduced the sound is going to get better and better and will slowly or quickly become even more affordable.

If you had 50,000 to spend on an Amplifier, would you buy a high ticket SS amplifier and hope for the best ?

Would you stay safe and go with high ticket valve amp, class D can never match good valves right ?

Or would you sit tight and see how the GaN capacitors can further improve the performance of state of the art class D ?

Please feel free to join in, everybody is welcome, i think its a very delicate/touchy discussion for some people with big bucks invested in older type amplifiers.
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pkvintage's avatar
pkvintage
57 posts
 
If I mention a certain brand does that mean I am advertising it and must  be promiting it. There is a lot of guilty posts on here if that is the case.

It's as good a topic as anything else here so don't get your knickers in a knot some of you. Technology  advances. If you think something wont surpass tubes and SS at some point you are sadley mistaken. IMHO

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genesis777
59 posts
 
I had the Red Dragon 500 mono amps and thought they were very good. 
miveraaudio
111 posts
 
The reason I'm no longer selling straight power amps is because today's best class D amps are not the weak link in everyone's audio chain. It's the highly inefficient signal chain everyone uses of DAC-cables-preamp-cables-amp that kills the quality. I have moved on to digital input amps, that allow far better sound than is possible with yesterday's way of doing things. No matter if you have the best class D, A, A/B amp in your system, you will not get better sound with yesterday's signal chain. So folks should stop focusing on amps alone and focus on how to get better overall sound from their systems. Another bonus of eliminating all of these expensive weak links is it drastically saves on overall cost as well. 
ricevs
190 posts
 

Mike,

Simply not true about you having anything to do with the price of 1200AS2 amps being sold today.  No manufacturer can sell an amp that costs them way less in parts and sell it for more than another amp they sell that has way more money in the parts......especially, when they are showing the insides of their amps and all can see.  The 1200AS2 is a stereo module with built in power supply.  The NC500 is a separate mono output stage that needs a separate custom input stage board and a separate power supply board.  So, a stereo NC500 amp requires 6 boards that cost way, way more than one single 1200AS2 module.  The companies that sell the 1200AS2 are just pricing them according to parts cost.  You had nothing to do with it.....you just want a pat on your back....well, I applaud you for first telling everyone how good they sound.  They are really great amps and especially when tweaked and run mono.  They are not state of the art, no matter what you do to them.  I am pretty sure a pair of AudioNet Heisenberg amps ($105K) would be preferred by most.  However, for $2K....they are mighty fine.

ricevs
190 posts
 

Mike,

Your all in one DAC/amps are only as good as the weakest link.  The stock 1200AS1 or 2 is not state of the art.  And many would prefer a tube sound or whatever sound pleases them.  Having an all in one gives up the whole idea of tweaking fun.  Even if your DAC part is state of the art......your amp is not. Because you have one less interconnect does not mean much at all.  I run a 2 foot hardwired balanced cable from the discrete output stage of my modded Oppo directly to my custom input circuit on my mono 1200AS1 modules.  No preamp, no connectors....pretty darn nice.  Your DAC looks fantastic, but I would not want to be limited to todays stock amp modules. 

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