Chi-Fi in the Time of Self-Righteous Indignation.

W Jennings provides a topical example of something that is prevalent in many aspects of decision making - summed up succinctly in what is broadly known as signalling theory.

All life forms rely on fairly rudimentary signals to make surprisingly important decisions. Labels (such as Chi-fi) are just one form of signal.

A signal often goes to the reputation as to quality (however defined - broadly!), as Jennings talks about.. Signals can be reliable or unreliable, as with any rules of thumb, so it is wise to often do a bit of research once the threshold signals are satisfied. In relationships, this may be known as courting.

For those who are interested in signalling theory, Wiki provides a good read.

I have no wish to comment here on the many ethical and moral issues people may associate with China on whatever basis they choose to do so.

@nonoise  By the way, what happened to the other threads on this subject? Were they deleted for convenience sake or did someone take umbrage? 

I'm just speculating and I could be wildly wrong, but perhaps it was because certain folk here couldn't help themselves making unwarranted and provocative comments designed to incite partisan squabbles?

@russ69 Do not discount the Chinese they are finding the sweet spot of acceptable quality. It will only be a short time before Chinese hi-fi dominates the market.

I agree with you. A few short years ago I probably may not have. As I write this I am awaiting delivery of a Topping DAC. It was a toss-up between that and a Gustard.

Both brands (to the best of my understanding) are pretty much of Chinese design and build.  They go way above what may be politely described as "acceptable" quality on many levels that are important to me.

"Chi-Fi is CHINESE HI-FI, Hi-Fi made in CHINA. nothing more, nothing less."

Consistent with my rant about signal theory on the previous page here, yes. Its a label.

A phrase (or word) describing a characteristic of something, which conveys some intrinsic and valuable information.

What else can it be? And it rhymes, and that’s pretty cool.