What's the difference between a $300 amp and a $1200 one????

Please don't bump right away, it's been a mere 15 minutes. 

 

Yes, there's a difference.  For a matter of over-simplifying everything, I love car comparisons.  Is there a difference between a $30,000 car and a $120,000 car?  Would it be attention to detail or parts used?

 

Some parts costs more than others and some amplifiers simply use more parts.  Casework and input/output features also plays a huge part.  Simple casework with 1 input and a cheap volume control can cost $50 while there are amps with cases costing over $200 alone and use $500 volume controls (such as the Alps RK50).

The simple answer - yes.

 

There have been many comparisons and reviews of many amplifiers on the forum, you gotta get some leg work.  There have even been huge multi-amp shootouts in different categories.

Your use of the word "huge" leaves way too much room for personal opinion .... But for me it comes down to this :  How fine is your source ?  How revealing are your headphones ?    If you are using a world class source, and playing through a pair of T1s or HD-800s , then there is a VERY significant difference indeed in the quality of different amps. The amp can make or break the end sound when it comes to dynamics, control, and transparency.

        I own a $1200 solid state amp, and can say I feel I am now at the razor's edge of diminishing returns. Having listened to a LOT of more expensive solid state amps, I have only heard one that was on a completely different sound quality level, and that was an amp that costs almost 5 grand !

Edited by downsize - 8/2/10 at 3:11pm

One example ?   Lexicon RT-20 disc player ... About $900 used on Audiogon.

 

Another would be your computer playing through an Eastern Electric Minimax Tube DAC ...

Edited by downsize - 8/2/10 at 3:32pm

Yes, there are huge differences.

Usually, the differences come out in the power supply. I'm not terribly up on solid state, but there's considerable differences in tube amps. The power transformer is usually the biggest expense, often running $100-$200 alone. If you want to use big caps and chokes to smooth the power, you can easily run up to $500-$600 in parts alone. The power supply is key with tubes. Cheap supplies will let "ripple" through that makes the sound output waver a bit. Ditto if you put AC on the filaments instead of DC. The smoother the power and deeper the reserves, the better the sound will be. If you look at the good amps, they all invest heavily in the power supply. You can also run up the tab using tube rectifiers as opposed to diodes.

Next, you have to look at construction. Cheap amps are built on a PCB. That makes them more or less disposable, since a damaged PCB can be a real pain to repair. If traces lift, get broken or scorched, you pretty much have to rebuild the amp entirely, which would cost more than replacing it. The good amps are point-to-point, with terminals and real wires making connections. If something goes wrong in one of those, you can usually get the bad stuff out in short order and repair the amp.

As an example, I'm building Ciuffoli's SESS amp with 417A tubes (plans at Headwize). I paid $700 just for the power transformer, three chokes, and two output transformers. Then I'll spend another $200 for a stepped attenuator volume control, individual terminal points, and I've got another $300 or so in sockets, tubes, jacks, switch, screws, raw aluminum for the case, Teflon wire, and headphone jack. So, about $1,200 in parts, give or take. Since I'm building the case from scratch, it'll probably take 60-70 hours to finish it nicely. This doesn't include a few thousand in tools that I already have.

The rule of thumb is that an amp costs four times its parts if you want to sell it retail. I don't think I could turn a profit on this thing unless I charged about $3,500-$4,000 for it.

This is also why you don't see that many truly high-end tube amps on the market. If you have to add in labor and overhead, it's not easy to break even at the high prices. If you want a really good amp, you often have to build it yourself.

http://www.morningstaraudio.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=12&catid=6

The first thing that shocked me about audiophilia is how much you can spend on headphones (HD 800, for example - £1000). Next was how much MORE you can spend on amplifiers. Headphones are different, but at their core they're simple beasts that need to constrain to certain sizes and shapes, and they all have drivers, cables, enclosures.

Amps have no such constraints; they can be massive or tiny, and they can have completely different circuits and designs from one another. A PX100 is fundamentally the same design as an HD 800. The only thing that really links a Fiio E3 to an Orpheus amp is that they both amplify, to some extent.

Sounds like the OP needs to attend a meet. You are in a prime audio geography so check out the meets thread.

 

 

Is there a huge difference between a $6 bottle of wine and a $15 bottle of wine?  Is there a huge difference between a $15 bottle of wine and a $50 bottle? 

 

The answer is it depends on your experience.  Chances are is that if you are new, you may not be able to tell much of a difference.  You are better off getting cheaper gear.  After you listen to the cheaper gear for a few months, listen to something more expensive. If the price difference produces a better experience for you, spend the money.  

 

Ultimately, the purpose of the system is to convey emotions.  The more money you spend on the headphones, the source, and the amp, the better the system will get out of the way and let you connect with the music.