Parsound A21 - so why spend the extra $18k-$50k, exactly?

Audiophile Realist -- Sun, 01/07/2007 - 20:03

JV,

Read the A21 review, and the one issue that hits me is:

If this amp is so good, then how are the other champs still in business? For $2,000, would sound quality be the biggest reason why someone would spend $20k, $40k $100k on a pair of amps? What sized performance gap are we talking about, and how much would the gap be closed with the Halo monoblocks? I suppose if you had the money, it is your perogative to spend $18k + extra for that extra bit of performance, but hasn't a lot of this got to do with perception and prestige too?

Scott Naylor -- Tue, 01/09/2007 - 00:31

AR-

This won't be news to an old soul like yourself, but having worked at a very high-end store in a major metro area for several years, I can tell you from personal experience that while sound quality usually factors into buying decisions to some extent at all price levels, it is rarely the over-riding one, and this was even more in evidence to me at the cost-no-object end of the market. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say 90% of the high rollers couldn't make the distinctions TAS makes sonically or musically to any degree at all, and few would stop and say "wait, that's good enough!" to the A21 even if they could. So yes, perception and prestige are a devastating right/left combination.

In a market that seems to have lost a certain amount of perspective on what cost vs. musical performance means for the folks, it becomes more than ever crucial for the few reviewers who have the experience, skill set, and desire to compare the rare A21's of the world with the one-year-at-an-Ivy-League-school amplifier crowd and make them known. If high-end audio isn't going to topple completely brought down by its top-heavy esoterica, perhaps it will survive as it has until now with the reminder that for most of the audiophile masses, $2,000 for an amplifier is a final purchase. That it now buys a substantial portion of what is ultimately available will factor to many.

kind regards,
Scott

Audiophile Realist -- Tue, 01/09/2007 - 05:29

Brilliant response. Thanks. As I mentioned in the other thread, I think I heard the ASR a while back. I will give kudos to the entire system, because I am not sure which component really deserved the credit (if only one that is). In any case, that was the only experience where I could justify spending that much for an amp. In most other cases, going beyond the A21 just seems to about much more than sound quality. Krell would be the best example I could think of where I walked away thinking "boy that was some serious BS there".

Scott Naylor -- Wed, 01/10/2007 - 15:46

AR-

As I see it, TAS has a very difficult job in the current high-end arena. The lid off of pricing puts a lot of pressure on them to make qualitative value comparisons between products as opposed to solely on the absolute sound criteria. Magazines always walk a tight-rope between serving the buyer and remaining appealing to manufacturers.

I'm glad you mentioned your experience with a high-cost (in today's terms) system recently that grabbed your ear. What can get lost in this is that there are wonderful improvements happening now across the audio spectrum. I don't envy reviewers having to weigh the perceived value of something like a Benchmark DAC-1 against a Zanden.

best,
Scott