Do amplifiers affect Sound Quality?

[fly_marlin]

I don't know many folks that use the terms "Brazilian amps" and "reliable" in the same sentence, and if you're happy with the same 10+ year old technology they're building out of Korea have a lot of fun.
The point is you're not just paying for a name when you buy American and European made equipment. There's actually technology, reliability, build quality, and re-sale value that goes along with that.

I may give you resale value, but I think everything else is somewhat of a myth. The technology, reliability, and build quality depends mostly on the company, its engineers, and QC. Most of electronics we own, even outside of car audio, are not made in Europe or the US. I think if a company has a track record of reliability, quality, and performance - that speaks for itself, regardless of where it was built. I'm sure many of us can name plenty of companies that do not build in the US or Europe and are very reliable. SoundQubed, Arc, etc.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I may give you resale value, but I think everything else is somewhat of a myth. The technology, reliability, and build quality depends mostly on the company, its engineers, and QC. Most of electronics we own, even outside of car audio, are not made in Europe or the US. I think if a company has a track record of reliability, quality, and performance - that speaks for itself, regardless of where it was built. I'm sure many of us can name plenty of companies that do not build in the US or Europe and are very reliable. SoundQubed, Arc, etc.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I may give you resale value, but I think everything else is somewhat of a myth. The technology, reliability, and build quality depends mostly on the company, its engineers, and QC. Most of electronics we own, even outside of car audio, are not made in Europe or the US. I think if a company has a track record of reliability, quality, and performance - that speaks for itself, regardless of where it was built. I'm sure many of us can name plenty of companies that do not build in the US or Europe and are very reliable. SoundQubed, Arc, etc.

So what new technology is coming out of the far east in their amp designs? And the ARC Audio 1200W mono block has an MSRP of over 700$

 

[SounDrive Pro Seller]

I don't know many folks that use the terms "Brazilian amps" and "reliable" in the same sentence, and if you're happy with the same 10+ year old technology they're building out of Korea have a lot of fun.
The point is you're not just paying for a name when you buy American and European made equipment. There's actually technology, reliability, build quality, and re-sale value that goes along with that.

JL isn't American or European made, only designed. They have a buildhouse in China and another in Korea. It comes down to the quality of components used and QC.

I'm all for making everything in the USA, of course. Very few manufacturers do that any more though due to cost. I'd love to run some new Zed amps.

 

[fly_marlin]

So what new technology is coming out of the far east in their amp designs? And the ARC Audio 1200W mono block has an MSRP of over 700$

Not sure what you're asking. Quality amps coming from the orient can be just as efficient, reliable, good sounding, quality as their western built counterparts. The technology/design doesn't come from the orient. These companies design here in the US/Europe and manufacture in the orient.

If come up with the best doughnut ever made from German flour, but pay someone to bake it in Korea - where does the doughnut belong? Designed in the US, built in the orient from European components.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

JL isn't American or European made, only designed. They have a buildhouse in China and another in Korea. It comes down to the quality of components used and QC.

And sinking money into R&D and tight oversight of overseas factories. The class D mono amp that's been coming out of the far east has been pretty much the same thing for ages. There's not a lot of engineering involved in just adding more MOSFETs to the same circuit and slapping a different brand name and power rating on things, because that's pretty much the level of innovation coming out of their factories.

These companies design here in the US/Europe and manufacture in the orient.

The companies that charge 15 cents a watt for amps do NOT design anything except a logo for their brand. The premium priced products are the ones that show innovation and any modern technology. Even the Brazilians are doing some new class D designs, but the verdict is still out about reliability.

 

[fly_marlin]

Ok, so you get a more efficient class D amp? Are we jumping from ~85% efficiency at 4 ohms to 95% efficiency? If I buy an Arc product, I have full confidence it's reliable and well built. I have a class H Arc amp, super small footprint, tons of power, very efficient, etc. I'm not sure you'd say Robert Zeff isn't being innovative because he knows this thing is going to be built in China. What improvements are we looking at if the thing is built in the US? Efficiency, footprint, SQ?