[barrows]

Yeah, I think it is fair to say that when (if) we see OE nC1200 amplifiers with significant differences, like linear power supplies, and/or the manufacturers' own voltage gain stage, we are also going to be seeing much higher prices.  It is pretty clear that the OE price for the nC1200 modules is pretty steep.  I think the question most OE manufacturers are asking themselves if considering nC1200 builds with their own power supplies or input stages is: am I going to be able to build something good enough thta my customers are going to be willing to spend $15K to $20K for it.

[Rclark]

"The first press release had Merrill Audio's Ncore Veritas at $6.400/pr. Soon after pricing changed to match the Atsah whilst the Veritas monos gained a downfiring blue LED. Opportunism or consensus?"

I'm surprised nobody noticed this from the review? It makes me believe the pricing of the 1200 units is also rather fluid, depending on buildout by the OEM. Anyway, perhaps Merrill Audio made some upgrades before launch that merited a pricing adjustment?

[barrows]

Well, we can only speculate on Hypex's pricing structure.  But I would hope, for the sake of competing OEM customers, that it is not fluid...
To anyone who has worked in product development, a change in price from the initial pre production estimate, should not be surprising.  It is easy to be overly optimistic on final price before one has actually put a product into production.  I suspect that Merrill is just charging what they need to try and stay in business.  Billet machined chassis are very expensive to produce, there is just no way to get that done cheaply.  Of course, they ought to be able to do the same design as dual mono for around $3K less...  That might be a really good deal for those who are not hot for mono blocks.

[Barry_NJ]

"The first press release had Merrill Audio's Ncore Veritas at $6.400/pr. Soon after pricing changed to match the Atsah whilst the Veritas monos gained a downfiring blue LED. Opportunism or consensus?"

That design change happened months ago. It was my idea, to clean up the look of the face-plate of the amplifier, which I did the graphics for. So now the stand-by button and its LED are on the bottom front of the amp instead of the face of it.

[jackman]

Barry,
The new look is very nice, as is the LED on the bottom.  Very clever and attractive.  Well worth the $4k price increase.


Cheers

Jack

[Barry_NJ]

Barry,
The new look is very nice, as is the LED on the bottom.  Very clever and attractive.  Well worth the $4k price increase.


Cheers

Jack

LOL! Well I'm pretty sure that one had nothing to do with the other. I think, really don't know for sure, that the price of all the components ended up being more than initially expected by quite a bit.

[Rclark]

... Well then this leads one to believe there is a niche for no-frills NC1200 amps. Somebody outta get on that. Simple case, good connectors, pow, amp.

[James Romeyn]

Brian Weitzel and his brother Paul own TRL, Tube Research Labs.  A TRL-modded Sony is my sole digital source for about ten years now.  Brian told me Paul is building an NC1200.  I'd love to hear it.

It seems silly to argue about the relative merits or value of NC1200 (any stripe, any version) vs. NC400.  Every single person considering NC1200 will hear it in their own system.  So who cares what anyone else says about comparing the two? 

Anyone hear Theta's NC1200-based amp yet?

Readers are extremely lucky to read contributions from an MBL Radialstrahler owner, especially relative to Ncore applications.  Anyone who's heard MBL knows there's nothing like else like it.  It's interesting to read his note that they really sound much better loud, and this may explain the high levels at shows.  Looking at show-goers in the MBL rooms, I see a hypnotic expression appearing in no other room, ever.   

 

[cab]

Anyone hear Theta's NC1200-based amp yet?

 

Apparently they have shelved their plans to use the nc1200.

[bulldogger]

Any idea why Theta abandoned the N-Core?

[Rclark]

My guess would be Mola Mola is too much competition right out the gate.