The Cayin (aka Zhuhai Spark Electronic Equipment Co) brand gave birth to LM. Legend has it that the two brothers were engineers at Cayin, then struck out on their own. I've been told they source many parts from the same suppliers and have similar build quality. I have an early Cayin integrated, supposedly engineered by the LM brothers, that's now going on 12 years old. It operates as new and is built like a tank. Except for the bias boards, it's all hand-wired with a very tidy layout. It has only high quality parts: Takman, Nichicon, Clarity...and much quieter transformers than found in one of the major American competitors. Zero hum or buzz can be heard through my speakers at idle, only the slightest hiss with ears against the tweeters.
My DAC is an LM model and also built like a BSH - again, very high quality parts throughout, no corner cutting.
My DAC is an LM model and also built like a BSH - again, very high quality parts throughout, no corner cutting.