I have been Audio SS and Many tubes amps, preamps.
a lot of junk under $1k from China as another member mentioned
parts quality sucks, even in a lot of US built companies I have owned from top 3-4 and myself knowing parts quality inside and out ,and allways modding Loudspeakers , even at$10 k I am shocked. I looked in side Macintoswhen I sold it in the UK
resistors and caps $5 - red wima capacitors on a $6k amp.
The worst RO Lamm inside a lot of average parts ,because of his great engineering skills he can bypass caps quality in specific areas . This is why I say buy a high quality Used speaker, or
equipment and have top quality Bigname caps Jupiter , Duelund
Vh Audio ,Mundorf , Rike, Vishay nakedresistors ,Caddock.
and a bunch of others , I see a Solen $12 caps in $15k+ speakers.
i bought a ML stat evolution speaker2 years ago , Solen and nothing special .i replaced caps,and sold it ,even their $80k
speaker ,not even a Mundorf Supreme. Capacitors the cheaper white evo silver oil , which are not that great . They didnot like it
theowner of Harbeth hung up on me. He uses caps from Taiwan
i told him you build a quality product. Why not use U.K Clarity
capacitors and quality 1% resistors , his ego could not handle it
this is how Dan Modwright made it . He hired top engineers and
takes products with good potential and puts premium power supplies, transformers, wiring and parts.
with tubes by far the worst sin , and90% do it cheap tube sockets
I had a US made integrated $150 tube sockets that have horse
like bent paper clips for contacts and the pins not tight in the socket . I replaced them with teflon Gold overCopper sockets
the tube store in Canada , as good or better then Yamamoto
for $20 each , thedifference in sound quality , same tubes was
like a great vintage tube vs a average tube of today. Aprofound difference . Try also Stabilant -22 Contact enhancer ,after cleaning contacts with high purity Isopropyl alcohol. I am just stating the facts. I owned a Audio store as well as Audiophile for 35+ years
I now build and look for value in all modsfor myself and others .
ruleof thumb I Only use Quality products throughout !!
