The A5CR power amp and a competitor: a real life value comparison

Maybe you're bored with hearing Musical Fidelity bang on about the value-for-money that we offer relative to other products. The trouble is, we don't like to point the finger directly at specific targets. They might feel victimised and we might look like we are picking on them. However, some reviewers seem to think that our value-for-money approach is only a marketing proposition, as opposed to a real world fact.

Below are some comparative measurements between an A5CR power amp and a competitor. This competitor is an extremely highly regarded power amp from another manufacturer, which received an ecstatic review in the October 2004 issue of the Stereophile magazine.

Please remember that the US retail price of the A5CR power amp is about $2,900, while the other brand costs nearly $19,000. In other words, the A5CR power amp is 15% of the price of the highly regarded brand.

Please note a further oddity in the competitor's figures (as if $19,000 for a 200 watt amp isn't odd enough): instead of its power rising as resistance falls, its power falls at the lowest resistance. Most peculiar.

Maybe we are being silly, but we cannot see how the sales proposition offered by the more expensive product is even faintly comparable to that of the A5CR power amp. In fact, by buying the A5CR power amp and saving over $16,000, the customer could buy the rest of a very high quality hi-fi system with the difference, and still have a few grand left over - enough to take a good holiday.

People complain about the state of the hi-fi business with an air of gloom and despondency. To us, the explanation is simple. Rather than providing good, solid performance and value-for-money, too many manufacturers resort to mumbo-jumbo to promote their products. A few customers fall for the patter but the vast majority are not fooled. They turn their backs on the business (and our livelihood) forever.

Come on, people, wake up! Don't blame the consumers for refusing to be ripped off. Musical Fidelity can claim to know something about how much it costs to make high end products, and therefore about what constitutes a fair retail price. We are realistic about profit margins.

So when an amp with slightly less power than the A5CR power amp costs SIX times as much, we know exactly why. It is because of the greed of our competitor, preying on the hapless few who will be fooled into paying over the odds. He makes a few sales - at the who-knows-what cost to the future of the industry.

Musical Fidelity believes that consumers should be informed about value-for-money of a given product, and that this means giving them comparisons of value-for-money between competing products. You can expect us to continue.