I totally understand the price issue. I can't speak for other manufacturers, but I have an incredibly small profit margin on my amps in an effort to price them as reasonably as I can while still remaining in business and providing a premium quality product in and out. As an example with your $1600 figure, I can't even build a Brigand for that cheap at cost and I get my parts at wholesale--but not in large quantities so the tier pricing of parts isn't at the level of larger manufacturers yet for me. At this point, I'm making next to nothing for labor on amp builds due to how low the profit margin is, but you're still getting class 2 to 3 IPC standard soldering (usually class 3) and micro level quality inspection on the entire amp build as opposed to typical wave soldered PCB's with much lower level inspections afterwards--just as a for instance.
Another thing to consider is the level of service and support you get after the sale. Again, I can't speak for the other manufacturers, but with my amps for example, you get personalized service and support from me for as long as you own it on top of the warranty. If you sell the amp, the next guy gets it too, regardless of the fact that I never actually got any money from him. So with a lot of us little guys, there is more that you get with the price than just the amp. To some it matters and to others it won't of course.
All that said, I'll reiterate that I totally understand price is a HUGE deal. Some small manufacturers can meet the lower price points, but it is very dependent on the product and everything that goes into it. Guys like me have to understand that my amps aren't going to have mass appeal or be built in large quantities because they fall into more of a niche product category.
Just my .02 on it FWIW. But I don't want to totally derail Mike's thread, so back to the shootout!
