Mark, you forgot two of the biggest reasons of all: Peer Pressure and
Status.

Who's going to buy something when they know their friends or anyone that
looks at it will laugh or call them a newbie or cheap, or a punk-ass
bass kiddie that likes distortion more than music?

The people that usually do end up buying the cheaper amps usually either
can't afford anything better, just don't give a crap and want just a
little bit more bass, or actually realize when something will work for
them and are price-aware.

Brandonb


Mark Zarella wrote:

I should add, by the way, that there are additional reasons for buying
better built amplifiers. But none that I can think of that directly relate
to "clean" vs. "dirty" power. For instance, when you're driving low
impedance loads, some amps crap out sooner than others. When you're driving
an amp to its limits, some overheat and shut down. "Better" amps often
don't. But I think you'd be quite surprised to find that there are some
pricier amplifiers that are less stable under these circumstances than
others. For example, I've had a tougher time with Profile amps overheating
than Jensens, yet the general concensus among car audio groups is that
Profile amps are supposedly "mid grade" whereas Jensens are "junk". I'd
actually put some of the newer Jensen amps up against Kenwood, Profile,
Sony, Audiobahn, Alpine, etc in terms of reliability.