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      04-02-2010, 06:08 AM   #13
Technic
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VP Electricity View Post
What that has to do with my comment, I'm not clear. As a Tru Technology dealer, I'm REALLY clear that most people don't want that.
If anything, I would not call a $550 MSRP amp (or $400) amp cheap. But that's me...


Quote:
Technic, as a product manager, this statement is really contradictory. I would suggest that the HD was intended to break new ground for Class D, NOT to take market share from a less-expensive, and noticeably worse-sounding, competitor.

So why care about a JL product that's priced and sized comparably to an existing product (PDX), when you haven't heard or touched it, nor is there a compelling narrative explaining why it would be any better than PDX?

I've done a lot of research on Class D ICs, and I know some of the potential SQ improvements, and I also know that the silicon dictates an awful lot of the cost and the SQ.
The reason that I mentioned market price is that, with the exception of the HD 900/5, the HD line is priced within $50-$100 MSRP of a comparable PDX. For me that's a direct competitor.

That Alpine and eBay made the PDX "affordable" at sometimes half the price while the HD prices as stayed within 60-70% of the MSRP says more about how JL Audio deals with the distribution and sales of their product line than anything else.

The XD line is comparable to the MRP line, the same way that the G Series was. Again, that Alpine and the market have made the PDX equal to this XD line and the MRP below it is something else.

Now, what I like about the XD600/6 is its size and specs as the direct replacement of the OEM amp. No, I have not heard this XD amp but I have heard the OEM amp and I have replaced the OEM amp with plenty of aftermarket amps both in E46 and in E9x just by reading the specs. And so far, anything "decent" sounds much better than the OEM amp. Thus I don't think that I need to hear this amp to bet that it will do the job for the price. But I will, for sure.

Quote:

If you haven't touched, heard, or installed one, how could you?

I'm not saying it's bad, and if you characterize my comments as criticism of the product, you'd be mistaken. I'm just very skeptical of any new product until it proves itself. Think PDX, Imprint H650, CleanSweep, etc. All nice products, all flawed as it turned out in ways unforeseen.

Whatever happened to guarded optimism?
I'm quite far from a "brand boy", and I think that you are the one confusing excitement -like there is some emotional attachment to an amp somewhere in this thread- with reasonable optimism.
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