[earlmarc]

Dave Berning will be introducing his new reference preamplifier and amplifier sometime in January 2007. The new TSP20 & ZH270 will be designed by Dave Berning and outsourced and sold from Canada with a new attractive look and extra features. The esitimated price for the preamplifier will be $11,000 and the amplifier (not intergrated like his current offering) will be priced similarly to the preamplifier. 

[srb]

Any good audio engineer can design an $11,000 preamp and an $11,000 power amp.

Real engineering talent lies in designing truly excellent components within a more modest and reachable (for the majority of us) price range.

[Bemopti123]

A price jump of more than 100% from the previous retail?  That is pretty steep, especially considering the fact that these amplifiers will not be made in small quantities (thus with the priviledge of asking for more)... 11K that is very steep.  I do not know about myself, but unless the design is seriously radical or labor intensive, it is very possible that Berning might be earning the adjective "greedy" without plenty of supporters of that. 

I cannot remember a manufacturer that did something like that, in contrast, Reference 3A with their move from manufacturing locales from Switzerland to Canada, actually dropped prices and improved the performance of their gear.  From US to Canada with 100% mark up.  I do not know about that move.

[earlmarc]

Any good audio engineer can design an $11,000 preamp and an $11,000 power amp.

Real engineering talent lies in designing truly excellent components within a more modest and reachable (for the majority of us) price range.

I'm not sure how closely related talent is with price, but I agree that the prices are steep. Some customers of Berning Audio wanted more attractive components and more features, so he outsourced chassis and features to another OEM in Canada.  

[earlmarc]

According to Allen, Dave's associate, these new offerings from Berning Audio were designed for the retail market and offer much better performance than what is sold by Berning direct. According to Allen,  Dave has for years sold his products direct at nearly no profit. He stated it takes Dave 40 man hours to assemble over 1000 parts to build the ZH270, and he has done this for years without making much of a profit. He stated further, that many manufacturs like Sonus Faber and Cain/Cain use the ZH270 to build their speakers. Allen, stated it is time to introduce Berning products to audio customers in the retail market. Allen agreed that the prices are steep, but he feels no other manufacturer offers the technology that goes into Berning products.

[JoshK]

Very steep indeed, but who ever said there were rational prices in this hobby?   Lamm, Tenor, Atmosphere...those are fair?  One point in favor to Berning is that he hand builds them and has real technology that he fine tuned himself rather than ripping off of someone else. 

[earlmarc]

Link to Berning ZH270 Review:

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/superioraudio/