What can you learn from looking inside an amp ?

[germinal]

Well.. basically I was wondering what you can learn from looking inside an amp ?

picture included is just an example..

But looking at this particular picture ( as a novice ) I would come to the conclusion that it’s mostly and empty box.. the power supply is not shielded. And besides some caps there seems not much to be seen ? Price for the components a few 100 dollars ? Price for the box itself probably a 1000 dollars or more.. MSRP a bit more.. ofcourse R&D profits etc needed as well..

But really.. can you learn something from looking inside ? ???

 

[Addicted to hifi]

Well.. basically I was wondering what you can learn from looking inside an amp ?

picture included is just an example..

But looking at this particular picture ( as a novice ) I would come to the conclusion that it’s mostly and empty box.. the power supply is not shielded. And besides some caps there seems not much to be seen ? Price for the components a few 100 dollars ? Price for the box itself probably a 1000 dollars or more.. MSRP a bit more.. ofcourse R&D profits etc needed as well..

But really.. can you learn something from looking inside ? ???

View attachment 86082

good post.yes parts don’t cost that much.

 

[bryans]

The problem is we can do this for everything. One can look at just about anything and see the parts don't add up near what the product sells for.

 

[jtinn]

Well.. basically I was wondering what you can learn from looking inside an amp ?

picture included is just an example..

But looking at this particular picture ( as a novice ) I would come to the conclusion that it’s mostly and empty box.. the power supply is not shielded. And besides some caps there seems not much to be seen ? Price for the components a few 100 dollars ? Price for the box itself probably a 1000 dollars or more.. MSRP a bit more.. ofcourse R&D profits etc needed as well..

But really.. can you learn something from looking inside ? ???

You know it is one thing to ask a question, but it is another to make a misleading statement about something you admittedly know nothing about. While I appreciate you mentioning that you are a novice, you should have stopped there and just let people, who really know, answer your question.

Now I am not trying to be mean, but... really? There is quite bit more than that just in the connectors.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Well.. basically I was wondering what you can learn from looking inside an amp ?

picture included is just an example..

But looking at this particular picture ( as a novice ) I would come to the conclusion that it’s mostly and empty box.. the power supply is not shielded. And besides some caps there seems not much to be seen ? Price for the components a few 100 dollars ? Price for the box itself probably a 1000 dollars or more.. MSRP a bit more.. ofcourse R&D profits etc needed as well..

But really.. can you learn something from looking inside ? ???

View attachment 86082

I am baffled by this post. I see a case filled with electronic components. I see a box that is mostly filled -- not mostly empty.

Were you expecting a rat's nest of point-to-point wiring? This company uses circuit boards rather than point-to-point wiring, so it does not look like a rat's nest of wires from a circa 1970s Heathkit.

In high-end audio we are not buying river rocks by the pound. Isn't the value in the sound achieved by the circuit design embodied in this box?

Unless you spent the last ten or so years studying electrical engineering and audio circuit design I would expect you to learn nothing useful by looking inside the box.

 

[Bobvin]

If you think “parts are parts” without considering if the parts are special in themselves, that the engineering design of the circuit is a trivial task without years of trial and error to gain knowledge, then yeah, it looks like a mostly empty box. Clean and tidy are always good, but i don’t know a choke from a rectifier, so looking inside tells me very little. Sure I can oh - agh the brands used, but so what?

Big caps — are they good or bad? Judging from the sound of my Pilium amp, I am going to guess big caps are good, in this design anyway.

 

[Addicted to hifi]

transistors in a amplifier can cost a few dollars to thousands of dollars depending on the quality of them.looking inside cart tell me much as I am no expert.

 

[BlueFox]

transistors in a amplifier can cost a few dollars to thousands of dollars depending on the quality of them.

I didn’t know that. Do you have any price sheets for stereo component transistors that cost “thousands of dollars”? Thanks.

 

[Addicted to hifi]

I didn’t know that. Do you have any price sheets for stereo component transistors that cost “thousands of dollars”? Thanks.

I hope I am right because that’s what I was told.

 

[germinal]

You know it is one thing to ask a question, but it is another to make a misleading statement about something you admittedly know nothing about. While I appreciate you mentioning that you are a novice, you should have stopped there and just let people, who really know, answer your question.

Now I am not trying to be mean, but... really? There is quite bit more than that just in the connectors.

You are totally right.. I’ll try and edit the post but I don’t think I can anymore..

But in all honesty it was meant more as an open question.

The price of components versus retail price was just the first thing I could think about. I reckon with tube amps, some are sold with very expensive tubes others with cheap ones.

But just maybe there are some engineers on here who can say, when they look inside, “woow this is very special because of this or that..,”

For example from the same brand :

Versus

 

[Solypsa]

What is more interesting to me is that 100 years into audio electronics design, designers are still coming up with solutions to string caps and resistors and inductors and ( tubes &/or transistors ) plus a few other bits into a new or at least personal circuit...

 

[DasguteOhr]

only the component quality, with modern multilayer circuit boards not even the circuit. You can see if someone has done their homework and built neatly. Example Aloia amplifier.

But that doesn't mean that it sounds good in the end. ok with aloia it works both sound and circuit design. wonderful 30 watts that sound like big set tube amps.
Power supply

 

[Carlos269]

You know it is one thing to ask a question, but it is another to make a misleading statement about something you admittedly know nothing about. While I appreciate you mentioning that you are a novice, you should have stopped there and just let people, who really know, answer your question.

Now I am not trying to be mean, but... really? There is quite bit more than that just in the connectors

Not sure why the original posters question was not valid. For those of us who used to design space electronics for a living, there is not much there.

I didn’t know that. Do you have any price sheets for stereo component transistors that cost “thousands of dollars”? Thanks.

I would also like to see what transistors costs “thousands of dollars”. Never seen one and none of my engineering teams have ever proposed the use of a device with that type of cost. Gallium arsenide (GaAs) transistors are the most expensive.

For reference, a 6-inch wafer of gallium arsenide costs about US $200, whereas a 200-millimeter wafer of silicon goes for roughly $40.

 

[DeadWax]

Would the OP be more impressed if I randomly stuffed $30K worth of high quality parts into a box? I guarantee it would sound awful but how impressive it would look with the top off! So many consumers don't give enough credit to the R&D investment needed to simplify the signal path in a manner that supports high performance while working across a range of equipment. World class circuit implementation is worth paying for with value far beyond the material cost of the widgets.

 

[Carlos269]

Would the OP be more impressed if I randomly stuffed $30K worth of high quality parts into a box? I guarantee it would sound awful but how impressive it would look with the top off! So many consumers don't give enough credit to the R&D investment needed to simplify the signal path in a manner that supports high performance while working across a range of equipment. World class circuit implementation is worth paying for with value far beyond the material cost of the widgets.

You obviously didn’t comprehend his post. Can I refer you back to the title of his post:

What can you learn from looking inside an amp ?​

He is not looking to get criticized or chastised. He is simply asking a question. Which I think is a valid one.

“World class circuit implementation is worth paying for with value far beyond the material cost of the widgets.” This is the mentality that has resulted in the current prices in high-end audio. With a smile, they can see you coming.

 

[andromedaaudio]

What can you learn from looking inside an amp ?​

That im actually quite dumb and better leave electronics to professionals

 

[andromedaaudio]

If you think “parts are parts” without considering if the parts are special in themselves, that the engineering design of the circuit is a trivial task without years of trial and error to gain knowledge, then yeah, it looks like a mostly empty box. Clean and tidy are always good, but i don’t know a choke from a rectifier, so looking inside tells me very little. Sure I can oh - agh the brands used, but so what?

Big caps — are they good or bad? Judging from the sound of my Pilium amp, I am going to guess big caps are good, in this design anyway.

View attachment 86088

Its nice but nothing beats Boulder imo .
Here s my 2013 amp

 

[andromedaaudio]

3060 if i ever would buy SS that might be it , its either that or Halcro

 

[Cableman]

Its nice but nothing beats Boulder imo .
Here s my 2013 amp

View attachment 86130

Had a 2010 pre/Dac back in the day. In truth. Great build quality very pretty but average sound. Don’t judge a book by the cover … or the internals. Listen and evaluate. That 2010 was enough Boulder for my lifetime.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Had a 2010 pre/Dac back in the day. In truth. Great build quality very pretty but average sound. Don’t judge a book by the cover … or the internals. Listen and evaluate. That 2010 was enough Boulder for my lifetime.

Cant say anything bad about Boulder , very good constructed never any problems
I have tested SS quite a bit Boulder was the best i ve tested .
I can imagine they would be go to amps with difficult speakers