JohnMac Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 Can anyone help explain the vast differences in prices for power amplifiers of the same power rating. Some I've seen have got filters in to allow the tailoring of the amplifier frequency response to suit the loudspeaker but once you've protected the amplifier and the loudspeakers what do you get for the extra £400 in price when looking between different manufacturers (The American manufacturers seem to be far more expensive.....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark b Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 The price of the amp can depend on any number of things.The name. Some box shifters will carge £1000 for am amp and £1400 for the same amp that says "peavy" on it. (that is an example not to be taken literaly.) Then aagin there are some amps that will function down to 2ohms and be stable and will run like that for days. Where as others of the same power rating will only function at 4ohms and not like running like that and will probably thermal out half way through your show. Then there is the change over to switch mode psu's they as they cost more to produce. The quality of the signal chain noise floor ect....... at the end of the day you pay for what you get. dont forget american product has import duty on it somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 Can anyone help explain the vast differences in prices for power amplifiers of the same power rating. In a word 'quality'. The quality of the design, the quality of the components and the quality of the manufacturing. Oh, and 'bullshit', as in that indefinable'it' factor. There are many many people making amps. Most are using the same old designs that have been around for over 20 years, all of which come from just a couple of original designs. Many of the cheaper MOSFET designs are based on the same Hitachi application note that gave us the Maplin MOSFET amp kit. It's not inherently a bad design (well OK it's got a few nasties lurking) but times have moved on. Then there are some who use good new original designs. R&D costs money. Money which has to be recovered along with all the other NRE. The quality of components used is another big factor. There are some manufacturers who disregard any good practice when spec'ing components. Then there are those who buy the best. In the professional market you tend to get what you pay for. Thankfully those amps are fairly light on the bullshit factor, not so in top end hi-fi though. It's true import duty from the US adds some (7% IIRC) and then there is the 'local distributor mark-up'. Which usualyy means you end up paying in pounds what someone the other side of the pond pays in dollars. For european amps there is no duty and prices should be the same through the EU. Mind you, with a very few exceptions, the best amps seem to come from outside the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 the change over to switch mode psu's they as they cost more to produce not true. A switch-mode supply costs less to produce than the comparable performance linear supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark b Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 misconceptions are always there untill someone says otherwise! <_< That'll teach me to believe all that I read. would agree with brian on the whole. The amps im my hire stock are of european extraction and are better than most of the home grown products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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