Prospectives on Chi-Fi

Pretty much every electronic in my system is made in China.

Aside from the preamp (DIY Pass B1 on a true Pass PCB, but I’m sure some of the Chinese PCB copies are just as good).

I own a Chinese DAC (Gustard A18) with a Chinese made transport (Audiolab 6000CDT).

All my class D amps are Chinese

External linear PSUs are also Chinese

Hell, even my cables are (Xangsane SP9001Ag silver cable, various power cables, and knock off "Odin" speaker cables)

Oh, my active crossover (Sublime Acoustic K231) is made in the USA! ^^

So far (and it’s been years) I never had the slightest reliability issue. Also have a SMSL SU-8v2 DAC and SMSL amp in my bedroom system, same same, works great, sounds great for the price, and no issues whatsoever.

There was a time when I was using second hand stuff, from USA / UK / Japan, and reliability was a major PITA with some, because of age mainly - but yeah for a given budget one can only go so far.

I will buy Chinese again, for my meager budget the price / quality ratio is impressive.

@dayglow my speakers are DIY, fully horn loaded. Think Klipsch LaScala on steroids (read: better, bigger, meaner) with active crossover. I’ve been mentioning those many times ;-) also two large JMLab / Focal subs. Very impressive sounding system and sounds much better than what it costs! ^^

Recently snagged 4 huge Shroeder diffuser panels at a flea market (the seller thought those were old radiators ^^) and wow, there you go, HIGH END system with peanuts money! (I’m quite proud of it as you may have noticed)

cheers