Oh, for Heaven's Sake

Here I go again on the subject of a ridiculously overpriced audio component. In this case it's an integrated amplifier – meaning it contains both pre-amplifier and power amplifier stages, and in this case, a DAC – that has perfectly decent specs, pretty much normal for a good quality product.

I don't find it attractive. Some might. It's a plain white box with two white knobs. To me it looks like it belongs in a 1950s futuristic living room, such as in the Pixar movie The Incredibles. I'm aware that some really dig that style. I lived through it in my childhood, so I'm glad to be rid of those kidney-shaped coffee tables, the rickety couches with their tubular brass legs, the plastic-y looking hanging swag lamps, and all the rest.

The amplifier produces a bit over 200 watts per channel, respectable and more than enough for just about anybody's home system. That's what I have in my downstairs stereo with its twin Schiit Tyr monoblocks. It boasts ultra-low harmonic distortion (so do my Bryston preamplifier and Tyr monoblocks), low noise floor (ditto), and all the rest. It measures just fine, and any noise left remaining is going to be well below audibility. My system, ditto.

Now, my DAC, preamplifier, and power amps cost $2500 (Schitt Yggdrasil+ DAC), $5200 (Bryston BP-19 preamp), $4600 (pair of Schitt Tyr monoblocks). So that's $12,300. Not chump change by any means.

But this integrated amplifier? $26,000. More than twice than my stuff, in other words, and it cannot conceivably offer anything that my current system does not save being all in one box, which I think in the case of digital is a bad idea – DACs are continuing to evolve, and if you buy an integrated with a built-in DAC you're going to be stuck with it. Nor is this company particularly known for digital technology; they're an old-school outfit that's really good at big expensive turntables and massive, floor-busting power amplifiers. Frankly, I can't believe for one moment that they can make a DAC on the order of a Schiit Yggdrasil+ or a Bryston BDA-3, which are the two DACs I currently own.

So the question: why, why, oh why?? But no doubt there are audiophiles out there who will fall over themselves to get one of these overpriced puppies with their vanishingly small distribution networks (the company is Swiss), difficult repair scenario (since parts have to come from Switzerland), and overall clunkiness in terms of upgrading.