Here is an overview thread to discuss all things AmpsAndSound as requested by a few of you!
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I wonder why they are so expensive. I assume it’s all labor costs because they are built by hand?
In terms of cost of parts, it must be less than a fourth of the sale price.
Not ragging on AmpsandSound in particular, but basically all the tube amp manufacturers these days.
Granted it must be time consuming to build them by hand.
Typical retail prices for consumer electronics are 5-8x cost of parts.
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Low volume manufacturing = high cost.
One full-time producer needs food, shelter, medical insurance, and a retirement plan. If they sell 50 to 100 amps per year, they’d need to net at least hundreds of dollars in profit to merely survive. The luxury market makes enough profit to continue, while hobby/retirement builders don’t need the money to survive.
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I see, that makes sense.
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Having now owned an amp from ampsandsound, I can say the craftsmanship and build quality is top notch and more importantly, I’m getting what i wanted from the device which is pure listening bliss and enjoyment. Isn’t that why we’re all in this hobby?? 
I think it’s worth it.
Plus it’s cool to tell people the shipping weight of this thing was a record 55 lbs!
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I’m with you on that! My conversations with Justin also suggest that some of the parts are custom made for his circuits, maybe the transformers for example, are custom wound, not off the shelf. And once when building a speaker crossover I priced out Jupiter capacitors, holy crap! Very expensive. I would not be surprised if a&s cost of parts is higher than typical consumer electronics. Either way, I feel like I got great value from my $ spent.
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Man, just think solely of the accumulation of hours Justin has talked on the phone with us are? That alone is big! Same situation as how many emails Bevin and Zach have typed just in the last year!!
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Yep. …
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Justin, Zach, and Bevin are true gems in this hobby. They’ve all helped me out countless times with issues or questions I’ve had over the years. It’s why I’m so quick to support them when at all possible. They deserve all the success they can get. And having products that look and sound great doesn’t hurt either…
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Is audio really a hobby? Aren’t enjoyable past times like sailing, golfing, running, diving etc. and yes, audio, much more like personal passions? Words matter. Now that’s off my chest, I can kick off my boots and listen.
Golf is enjoyable? Please provide citations for your assertion.
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with a hobby, I can get away with spending a few bucks and “investing” a few hours here and there… a passion in audio would probably result in me being divorced and penniless. 
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The quality of ampsandsounds work is excellent. He uses good quality parts and will fix them if they ever break. As far I’m concerned, they’re a bargain.
I have two: Kenzie, and Encore.
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Hey everyone… Made a profile so I could engage directly :-).
Please shot me any questions you have or call.
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Hey Justin, welcome! Thanks for making yourself available here.
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Welcome and thank you for joining the community. I look forward to my Kenzie Ovation landing here sometime this week.
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