Has anybody bought or heard a Chinese knock off amplifier?
There are a lot clones coming out of China and power amplifiers seem to be along for the ride. Mark Levinson, Goldmund, and Accuphase are some of the big names I see replica’s being advertised for sale. These replica’s range in price from $500-$2000. My curiosity every time I see these always is do they even sound like the brand they are trying copy? Another thought that comes to my mind when I see them is, are they even safe or reliable. I myself wouldn’t touch one of these, but that’s me. Has anybody heard one? If so it would be interesting to hear some opinions regarding these amplifiers.
I love the quality and sound of my Cayin, not a fake like OP is talking about, just to say, the capability of terrific products is there. ................................
Once, on the way to lunch with a client, I saw a sign on an audio store, asked my client "what kind of name is (my pronunciation) mass a goona?
He laughed, pronounced it properly: mashugana
It was ’Mashugana Ike’s’, a funny take off on Crazy Eddies.
I had heard, knew what it meant, but had never seen Mashugana spelled before.
For decades I’ve read/heard disparaging comments about electronics made in S Korea. In college (1981) I bought a Sherwood S9600 CP receiver. Designed in the USA, manufactured and assembled in S Korea.
Here it is 40 years later and I still use that receiver with no issues. Replaced a power switch. That’s it! It’s been in daily use for 40 years. Moved 14 times, even overseas.
Im not supporting a communist regime in buying it. Denied Japan some money. But I feel good about it.
i can’t feel good about supporting the PRC and the CCP! Their stated aim and business practice is to take over all industry and control from non-communist countries. When you buy from them, you add a strand to the noose designed to hang western countries and economies.
Before buying Chinese, you should learn a bit about what your money will be contributing to. And yes, it is a question of the world you want to live in. It's easy to find things to knock in any nation, the US included, and being at the top, we take more than our share of criticism. But attempt to find out a bit about how the world might change with the Chinese government at the top, which is a very real and looming possibility. Really, have a look. It will probably scare the sh*t out of you. It's what North Korea can only aspire to.
People that produce counterfeit anything are thieves. It's no more complicated than that. People that buy things from thieves are either ignorant, or amoral.
I recently mounted two chinese 500 watt class d modules for 20€ each into a frame of a quad 405 frame to replace the old, unstable existing modules that killed my tweeters by wildly oscillating and I had to state: the 405 NEVER BEFORE played that well. amazing power, transparent and clear treble and all that at with incredible dynamics.
Yogiboy, that Crazy Eddie thing is a riot. We used to have "Mad Man Munz" in So. Cal. You could trick out your Plymouth wagon with a bad ass 4-track system.
There are a couple knock offs that do the job. Not quite as good as the real ones but none the less they are ok. The Bad News.... Pretty difficult too get repaired if needed. If they fail (amplifier 's) they usually take down a good part of the unit leaving you with a boat anchor. If you have 1000.00 to toy around with The DartZeel is pretty cool.
Before moving up to a Bob Carver Crimson 275, I bought a new Muzishare X-7 integrated amp on Amazon to see if I even wanted to get back into tubes. I have seen enough crap electronics in my time to know good from bad, and I was very impressed with the build quality and the components used in the Muzishare. It also sounds great. I have no idea what the clones look like, but there is some pretty respectable gear, like the highly rated Line Magnetic Audio coming from China. There are quite a few reviews out there that back that observation up too. As for getting fooled by a clone, the same adage applies to name brand audio gear as anything else; If the price is too good to be true, beware.
To clear some confusion, I’m not talking about manufacturers that have their equipment made in China. I’m talking about counterfeit clones coming out of China.
What I’ve seen are clones of hi-end audio manufacturers amps with these manufacturer’s names on the front: Mark Levinson, Goldmund and Accuphase . you have to wonder who would buy such an amp?
I dont know if China can create now a great amplifier.... Among all the sea of junk however i bet they can...
China invented almost anything basic in all fields, centuries and even millenia before Europe figure it out and borrow it most of the times....
I will copy only the partial list if you dont know it and if you asked for....
Propaganda is not reality, communist one or capitalist one...
I am not chinese by the way, i only read books.... I read Joseph Needham book about China when i was 25 years old 45 five years ago then my "news" is very old news....
China own at least 3 millenia of continuous history and more in reality...
Then....
Coming back from the moon they can make an amplifier.... 😁
The problem is the CCP, not their science and tech.....
I dont know tough what are the name of their best audiophile products.... If someone knows i am curious....
Japan is top audiophile design creator of products like Korea...
There is the whole gamut of Chinese audio gear--original designs, designs based on existing gear from other manufacturers and outright counterfeits (meant to actually fooling someone into thinking it is an original piece from another manufacturer). I've seen, for example, Chinese counterfeit tubes (Telefunken 803S) and counterfeit Audio Note interconnect cables. It takes quite a bit of skill to pull off realistic counterfeit goods, something that a manufacturing juggernaut like China has in abundance.
Don't know what these knockoffs you're talking about, but I've owned and used Chinese designed and made gear like Line Magnetic and Denafrips, they were all superb.
I saw an amazing looking linestage which had parts that looked like vintage Western Electric transformers, capacitors and resistors. The buyer paid big bucks (I think it was something like $15,000), but the parts turned out to be Chinese counterfeit parts. The parts really looked quite good (made to look aged), but an expert spotted discrepancies in the decals on the parts.
If you haven't seen them already you obviously don't want to. The cloners are betting on no comparisons because customers of authentics don't care and customers of clones will never live with the real thing.
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