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Chinese products

I'm a little confused... Please bear with me

I recently reviewed a Chinese push pull amp for 600+ dollars as was pleasantly surprised with the sound quality( prev post)

I now see it for $50 more  on the same website.

I started looking at Chinese high end products like Line Magnetic an Sophia. (Please see glowing reviews on Stereophile). They are often 1000s of dollars more. The lm518ia( per SV $4450) caught my attention but the specs match up very close to the mc13s($600+)! So what am I missing?

Also, I see the above lm 518ia 835 integrated now selling for $1800.

This price volatility got me thinking:

Are all these products in fact the same? with the hope that someone will pay more for a variety of reasons?

This may be another thread, but who in world would pay or sell an amp for 114,000? ( Boulder)

Thanks for you input
recluse
oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,924 posts
 
I don't understand the appeal of a $4500 amp made in China when you can buy a number of really nice American made integrated amps for that kind of money.   Ayre ,Conrad Johnson, VTL,  Rogue , McIntosh ,  Rogers.........   some very fine choices. 
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
+1 oddiofyl! Buy American - plenty of good choices available!
will62
177 posts
 
While researching Nubsound and Douk Tube amps I noted they produce some very expensive Tube amps costing thousands.  It did get me to wondering, based upon the reviews of the cheap Tube amps, if it is that much of an improvement in audio quality.   Some, like Germtune appear to be rebranded Nubsound amps.

People need to keep the politics out of this.  I like most of you will try to buy American when possible.  But there are times when buying a product made abroad makes more sense and is far more cost effective.

Buying a new Chinese made product that comes with a warranty and money back guarantee makes more sense than buying something without either especially if you don't have the money to eat the cost of a used piece of gear that croaks and needs hundreds or thousands of dollars to repair.

pops
2,275 posts
 
They will only get more expensive with new trade tariffs.
chayro
2,998 posts
 
I think you are lumping all Chinese-made products together in one basket. Like many countries, China produces some low-priced products, but they are also capable of producing excellent high-end stuff, which necessarily dictates a higher price. Of course, all business people try to get as high a price as the market will bear, so there’s that. As far as whether you should, from a patriotic standpoint, purchase foreign products, that’s a personal choice. There are some foreign products shipped directly from China, so the US doesn’t really benefit, but there are others foreign companies such as Toyota and BMW that have American factories and dealerships employing thousands of people here. Rationalize things as you will.
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