Ebuzz's post is not as far off as some people might think.
As the former distributor of Opera Audio/Consonance products in the North American market, I can offer up my experience on their CD players. In fact, the CD players are among the main reasons for my throwing up my hands, and finally walking away. I don't want to say too much regarding the other Chinese companies, who I won't name specifically, beyond the information I obviously have as an insider is that my experience was totally par for the course. Coming from a background of producing MILSPEC components, I could not in good conscience continue on with a product with a failure rate on the level they did.
First, the full sized Droplet 5.0 (provided it uses a Philips laser head) is an incredible machine. In fact, I give it the ultimate recommendation, I use one myself. With the aforementioned Philips transport, the user should most likely be in good shape, though I have seen a few other inexcusable and unforgivable failures.
As for the rest of the lineup - the players using Sony transports, well, you've got far better odds in playing Russian Roulette. The failure rate of CD players I imported in 2007 exceeds 80%, and that number is more optimistic than you might think, as I've included the Droplet 5.0 (with Philips laser, a part which NEVER fails in my experience) in the total number. I once got a case of Sony transports in to use in CD player repairs. Fully 10 out of the 10 sent were defective. 10 out of 10! The company's response to my inquiry about how a company could not only ship out defect repair parts, but bat a thousand in doing so, the typical shoulder shrug and "Uh, yea, we've had some problems with those parts of late..." reaction.
What the Chinese do very well are chassis and casework. The materials and CNC milling are far ahead of what typically comes out of North America, Europe, and Japan. That, in my opinion, is where the comments like "built like a battleship" come from. But, just as you can't judge a book by its cover, the smart buyer should focus on what's inside, and it is there that the Chinese obviously fail.
Of the CD players I received in for repair since the spring, I have been able to successfully fix only two. As it stands, I have a half-dozen or more CD players waiting to be fixed right now. The company has sent me three shipments of repair parts since early summer, and each batch of them has proven incapable of correcting the problems, and thus, utterly worthless to me and the customers waiting on them. In all honesty, not being the importer any more, I really should not take on the burden, but I don't want to leave a customer in such a situation, so I'm waiting until things get right before completely cutting the cord.
As the former distributor of Opera Audio/Consonance products in the North American market, I can offer up my experience on their CD players. In fact, the CD players are among the main reasons for my throwing up my hands, and finally walking away. I don't want to say too much regarding the other Chinese companies, who I won't name specifically, beyond the information I obviously have as an insider is that my experience was totally par for the course. Coming from a background of producing MILSPEC components, I could not in good conscience continue on with a product with a failure rate on the level they did.
First, the full sized Droplet 5.0 (provided it uses a Philips laser head) is an incredible machine. In fact, I give it the ultimate recommendation, I use one myself. With the aforementioned Philips transport, the user should most likely be in good shape, though I have seen a few other inexcusable and unforgivable failures.
As for the rest of the lineup - the players using Sony transports, well, you've got far better odds in playing Russian Roulette. The failure rate of CD players I imported in 2007 exceeds 80%, and that number is more optimistic than you might think, as I've included the Droplet 5.0 (with Philips laser, a part which NEVER fails in my experience) in the total number. I once got a case of Sony transports in to use in CD player repairs. Fully 10 out of the 10 sent were defective. 10 out of 10! The company's response to my inquiry about how a company could not only ship out defect repair parts, but bat a thousand in doing so, the typical shoulder shrug and "Uh, yea, we've had some problems with those parts of late..." reaction.
What the Chinese do very well are chassis and casework. The materials and CNC milling are far ahead of what typically comes out of North America, Europe, and Japan. That, in my opinion, is where the comments like "built like a battleship" come from. But, just as you can't judge a book by its cover, the smart buyer should focus on what's inside, and it is there that the Chinese obviously fail.
Of the CD players I received in for repair since the spring, I have been able to successfully fix only two. As it stands, I have a half-dozen or more CD players waiting to be fixed right now. The company has sent me three shipments of repair parts since early summer, and each batch of them has proven incapable of correcting the problems, and thus, utterly worthless to me and the customers waiting on them. In all honesty, not being the importer any more, I really should not take on the burden, but I don't want to leave a customer in such a situation, so I'm waiting until things get right before completely cutting the cord.