Could they sell a high-end amp without the fancy

I think that was part of the approach that McCormack and Wyred4sound amongst others have taken. Whether they actually hit the mark is questionable. But, I wonder if such a product actually hit the bulls eye, would it actually get the respect it deserved, or just be dismissed as a good value overachiever? It seems as though for many, so much of this hobby is about pride of ownership.

When someone DARES to A/B the performance of a HEGEL product (or similar) with a Rowland, Burmester, etc. amp/preamp that will be a great day for the hobby. but no one wants to do it. funny how that works.

I agree with the Unsound's comments above, and I look forward to hearing a Hegel product sometime. Another product that provides true high end performance with extremely sound engineering and no bling to drive up the price are the Musical Reference amplifiers (RAM Labs): RM200 and RM10. These perform way beyond their price point,

It doesn't come with much less fancy than my Symphonic Line Kraft 250 monos:

http://cgim.audiogon.com/i/vs/i/f/1363975778.jpg

The resident female says they look like air conditioners without the knobs.

I think there's the false assumption that using lesser quality metal work will result in a dramatic lowering of the sale price. If a manufacturer went this root, would a $10k amp suddenly cost only $6k? I think not!

A high powered class A or A/B amp will necessarily be on the large and heavy side. Couple this with the fact that vibration and resonance control become increasingly more important factors as the quality of equipment improves and the high end amp manufacturer has little choice but to go with substantial metalwork. Once you're stuck with a big piece of metal to begin with the laser etching or mirror polishing doesn't add that much incremental cost.