[quote="Labarum, post: 770675"]Just looking again at the quality of that case (and of the wiring looms.) Very nice. We have noted already how difficult it is for a small supplier to market a small amp at a price that will sell, given the price of competent 50w amps from the likes of Richer Sounds, but I wonder how the economics work out for bigger amps? If a Quad 909 (or whatever it's called at the moment) sells for about £1000 it must surely be possible to undercut that by a serious margin using fine quality components. I once worked in a Physics research lab where most of the custom electronics was built using a 19" rack kit system - big sturdy box, hefty transformer, heat sinks current dumping boards in the 520/606/909 blood line. They need no setting up and cannot go out of alignment. And, heresy of heresies, what happens if you marry current dumping boards to a switching power supply? Do the economics stack up?[/QUOTE] Thanks for compliment, Brian. Several key things to consider: - Selling direct or via a dealer. - Cost of materials - Demand Direct does of course maximise the return, but as other small companies have discovered, without an active dealer and distribution channel demand slows to a trickle once you've sold a dozen amps to the forum(s) faithful. In terms of materials cost this sort of amp can be built for about £200, add in the associated build costs/time and a reasonable return and you're looking at about £500 as a bare minimum end price. A small margin is fine if a company is producing hundreds of amplifiers but realistically a small outfit will be looking at a handful per month. Go with a distributer and dealer and this price climbs north of £800 - Quad , Cyrus, Audiolab territory. Now of course there is another option, and that's to do what much of the hi-fi industry does and simply be dishonest. Fill the product with boutique components, use an exceptionally nice case, spin some tosh around 'special' circuit topology and claim it's a new wonder amp that redefines a sector. But it isn't and amplifier technology matured decades ago - and that's not something I'm happy to consider doing. The one thing I might consider is a made to order amp - that at least introduces a bespoke element which is missing from the larger audio companies. No reason why a current dumping circuit can't work on a switching supply :) Loudspeakers are a different matter. Still difficult for the small fish to break through but at least you've more opportunity to be distinctive with design and can genuinely offer something different.