Power is Cheap?

[MrBoat]

I have been hearing that amplification has become cheap to buy. How so? Every time I see what should be an adequate performing amplifier, turns out that it's only 50wpc into 8 ohms. They now use the 4 ohm rating as the lead spec. When I was coming up, it was pretty easy to distinguish between home audio and car. Home was predominantly 8-ohm, and car was 4.

Thankfully I am only 2 channel and amplification for subs. I am not used to so many generic brands getting to charge top $ for what should cost much less to produce, ship, and repair/replace than older technology, especially with regard to class D. The industrial revolution was supposed to make people's lives easier, the tech age easier yet, but still I have had to work like a blue collar dog to keep up, and I am a minimalist consumer pretty much across the board. None of these advances in technology moving forward has really allowed me to keep any more of my money.

This is my Icepower module kit amp. It cost me $300 all-in, but I had to source and assemble it myself. I don't expect that in the case of two-channel, there is much more to other comparable class D amps, regardless how differently the components are implemented. Yet I see prices of $1000 and up on class D amps, with albeit larger, yet lonelier chassis inside.

My 100wpc market would likely be around the Schiit Vidar, and the Yamaha s801, as what should be an upgrade in SQ, but I have not followed any actual 3rd party tests on the Icepower 200ASC kit that I own. Sounds pretty darn good to me, or should I say, my speakers sound like they should when using it. Still, the Schiit and the Yammy would be about the edge of what I would call "affordable" power come 2022. Otherwise, I reckon I'll just be 5-10-20 years behind everyone else, as I keep buying the used things other ppl throw away instead.

I also realize that I may have been lazy with knowing all the actual bargains that may exist now, but everything I seem to be interested in is pretty costly for what you get, and if power was actually cheap, 100wpc into 8 ohms would be the baseline for modern power and proudly stated so, if power were indeed a bargain now.

 

[shadyJ]

I would say that the people saying that power is cheap are either talking about powering a sub with a pro-audio amp or are talking about a mid-level AVR. In either case, the $/watts ratio is pretty high. But if you want a dedicated home-audio hi-fi amp, it's not cheap, but the technical performance tends to be much superior.

 

[highfigh]

I have been hearing that amplification has become cheap to buy. How so? Every time I see what should be an adequate performing amplifier, turns out that it's only 50wpc into 8 ohms. They now use the 4 ohm rating as the lead spec. When I was coming up, it was pretty easy to distinguish between home audio and car. Home was predominantly 8-ohm, and car was 4.

WRT speaker impedance, that hasn't changed much, aside from the fact that a lot of subwoofers are 2 Ohm- head units still operate on 12VDC, so the power is limited, although not as much as it was in the past when the power supply couldn't make higher voltage for the rails.

 

[ryanosaur]

I would say that the people saying that power is cheap are either talking about powering a sub with a pro-audio amp or are talking about a mid-level AVR. In either case, the $/watts ratio is pretty high. But if you want a dedicated home-audio hi-fi amp, it's not cheap, but the technical performance tends to be much superior.

Also, even though buying Hypex or Purifi is still somewhat expensive, it is far more affordable than many other "audiophile" classics and likely outperforms a majority of them.
How many high-end Mono Block Amplifiers can be had for under $1000 each, delivering 400w into 4ohms or 750w into 2?

 

[j_garcia]

They use the 4 Ohm spec to artificially inflate the appearance of the numbers because it sounds better than what will clearly be a much lower 8 Ohm spec. People who don't pay attention to that will get caught out in the rain.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Yeah, it can be "cheap" depending what you actually buy and where you buy it.

It also depends on the context - buying brandname separate amps (ATI, Parasound, etc.) to power high-end passive speakers and subwoofers can cost a lot less than buying some high-end speakers and subs with built-in amps.

 

[Swerd]

In the distant past (1960s and 70s) decent speakers cost less than powerful amps. By powerful, I mean any amp that produced more that roughly 30 wpc. In those days, 50 wpc or more was too expensive for most people to consider.

Since then, especially in the last 30 years, large full range (ish) speakers have gotten much more expensive, while powerful amps have gotten relatively less expensive. Now 50 wpc is considered barely adequate, 100 wpc is considered standard, and 200 wpc or more is high powered. Hence the phrase "power is cheap and speakers are expensive". It over simplifies the comparative costs of speakers and amps over the years. And it completely ignores inflation over those same years.

This answer means more to older guys like me.

 

[Mikado463]

In the distant past (1960s and 70s) decent speakers cost less than powerful amps. By powerful, I mean any amp that produced more that roughly 30 wpc. In those days, 50 wpc or more was too expensive for most people to consider.

Since then, especially in the last 30 years, large full range (ish) speakers have gotten much more expensive, while powerful amps have gotten relatively less expensive. Now 50 wpc is considered barely adequate, 100 wpc is considered standard, and 200 wpc or more is high powered. Hence the phrase "power is cheap and speakers are expensive". It over simplifies the comparative costs of speakers and amps over the years. And it completely ignores inflation over those same years.

This answer means more to older guys like me.

and the sixties was primarily the era of consoles, separates as we know them today didn't really take off until the seventies with 2 channel receivers from the likes of Marantz, Pioneer, Sansui, Fisher and handful of others ruling the roost. With legendary names like David Hafler and William Zane Johnson along with others 'true' separates evolved further. My first pre-amp was a Hafler DH-101, fond memories........

 

[PENG]

'true' separates evolved further. My first pre-amp was a Hafler DH-101, fond memories........

Finally someone else used the term "true separates".. It felt weird whenever people refer to the likes of A-S801 (integrated), AV7705, Parasound P6 (with dac) as "separates". To me those are fake separates, at best..

 

[Alex2507]

I see prices of $1000 and up on class D amps

Compared to speakers, amps are pretty affordable. I'm still interested in amps for under $300 used but speakers? Not even close.

 

[lovinthehd]

While not cheap seems they can be priced reasonably by quite a few vendors. Just depends how much bling you want as to when they're not so reasonably priced....

 

[Eppie]

There are cheap class D audio kits out there if you are willing to gamble. Search YouTube for Michael Beeny or JohnAudioTech for some reviews and basic testing. Based on the TPA and TDA chip sets. You still need a decent power supply to run these boards as the rated output depends on the voltage and current available. I imagine with a decent power supply and a metal case you'll probably still be in $300 area all together.