$4,500
 

An Audio Valve Eclipse (Eklipse) preamplifier:
http://www.stereophile.com/images/ar...t/807vavle.jpg
...That's right boys & girls, $4,500!
:eek: Good God! :eek:

Now, I can probably see where $1,000 would get spent making such a thing, but for the outstanding $3,500.... someone please help me here!

Andy

I'd had to agree, I can see maybe $1000 there with boutique parts (difficult to tell what's under the hood) but to me, regardless of how it sounds, that just looks incredibly tacky. If I'd be willing to put down $16k for a piece of audio equipment, I'd want the damn thing to look like a timeless piece of art, not whatever it is they've gone for there.

do i see a "balance" knob on there?

it's$4200, not $ 16K

@MellowTone: You want 'tacky' AND expensive, look no further than Ongaku Amp:
http://audiofederation.com/ces-2012/...fier-small.jpg
Thoroughly awful 'design' YUK!

@tsiros: Dammit, dammit, dammit, should've pressed the 'shopping' button on Google. I wonder if I can send it back....:D

Andy.

PS: All just for fun this! :D

No, it should look like a black brick and play like nothing below $25k. The problem is that most people are deaf and wouldn't tell the $500 unit from $50000 without the help of "timeless piece of art" look and porn like propaganda in audio magazines :D

Personally I like the Ongaku aesthetic, although I can state from experience that moving one is not much fun.. :D They are beautifully put together, fit and finish are impeccable in the way that one might remark on a Rolls Royce, and pretty much the same market/clientele. Performance wise there are better amps out there.

The pre-amp in question appears to be solidly engineered (it has that reputation) and I believe nary a boutique part to be found. I actually like the look, but since I like to make things (and I admit they generally don't look that nice) I'd pass. :D

Building small quantities of anything for this market is an expensive endeavor, you would be surprised just how much something like that pre-amp could cost to build - BOM costs are only the tip of the iceberg, and you have to figure 40pt mark up for the dealer into this as well. I think the economics are distorted pretty heavily by the small volume/exclusive nature of these products, and in some cases it is the high cost of admission and relative exclusitivity that appeals to the prospective purchaser. And I am not even saying that any one of us could not build a better sounding device.

Assuming they are using components worth say $200 each, if they have 100 components thats $20000

I got that the first time, hopefully others did too..

can you edit the title? :(