• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

$16,000

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jump to Latest
U

underwurlde

Member
Joined 2005
epde.co.uk
#1
$4,500

An Audio Valve Eclipse (Eklipse) preamplifier:
807vavle.jpg

...That's right boys & girls, $4,500!
😱 Good God! 😱

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
 
Last edited:
#2
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.
 
#5
MellowTone said:
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.
Click to expand...

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 😀
 
#6
Personally I like the Ongaku aesthetic, although I can state from experience that moving one is not much fun.. 😀 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. 😀

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.
 
#13
Kay Pirinha said:
Yes, according to the manufacturer's homepage it is sold at € 3,900 »only«, which is about $ 4,100.

But alas, I read 4 pc.12AU7 tubes? They aren't of the very best reputation in AF amplification, are they?

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Today's exchange rate would make that a little over $4700 USD... 😀

The 12AU7A/ECC82 would not be my first choice, but long ago I did offer an inexpensive line stage that used them - not too shabby for the price point. Linearity is the concern, but can vary significantly from brand to brand.
 
#14
underwurlde said:
You want 'tacky' AND expensive, look no further than Ongaku Amp:
Click to expand...

Yes, the Ongaku from Kondo/Audio Note Japan is expensive. No, it's not tacky. It's well built and use expensive parts like silver caps, silver transformers. Visually, I don't have a problem with it. Now, if they start gold plating everything then, yes, that would be tacky. It could be worse.

I think the one in the picture is a later generation Ongaku which is more subtle than the earliest version that had the preamp tubes sticking out at the top front enclosure that's less appealing to me.

I don't know the sound so I can't comment if it's worth the price. But sound quality of such item to the potential buyers, believe it or not, is not always paramount...
 
#17
12AU7 is a pretty nasty valve; fine for old TV sets and guitar amplifiers. Morgan Jones demonstrated that its distortion performance - notably third harmonic - is very poor. Years ago I tested a few myself and the results were similar. I would never use 12AU7 in an amplifier, after all there are many better and indeed, cheaper options.

7N7
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom