How can you evaluate cheap components without the context of valuable components? This cheap component is better than this cheap component isn’t really much of a comparison. At the end of the day if a component isn’t competitively priced it won’t sell and will fall by the wayside. If I were to step into that arena I would have to define cheap and match the brand that way. The "less than $100 audioman" or $1000 or whatever. Check the EISA awards, they call it "best value" and contrast it with "high end":
