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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
audiothesis
168 posts
 
Quality control, attention to detail, proper design, better parts, better transformers (big one there), and better customer service and warranty work are all reasons why the higher priced units are worth it.  Quality transformers aren't cheap and greatly influence the sound.  They are critical IMO to make a great tube amplifier.  

It all leads to better security and most importantly, better sound.  I normally don't even recommend tube products unless we start talking around the $3,000 mark as I feel that is where all the above start to line up.  
wolf_garcia
6,711 posts
 
My Jolida 502P was compared (by me, I schlepped) to much more expensive things here and there and I concluded its main issue was regardless of its sonic excellence, it was too inexpensive for audio snobs. It just was. My hand made Dennis Had Inspire "Fire Bottle" HO (it’s a HO) cost me 1200 bucks nearly new, and the latest batch of triodes he’s been making on his cute little workbench (!) are about 1500 new (you should have efficient speakers as these things are 10 to 12 watts per side, so there’s that). I think these Had amps are world class, but I know they're not as they don't cost as much as a Shindo. My amazingly good sounding Schiit Freya (USA Made) sells for about 700 clams (actual clams, weirdly). Are these non recommendable? Should I be ashamed? Too late…I’m sad now, and shuffling off to look at my little pile of substandard gear…*sniff*…
oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,924 posts
 
My NAD DAC  and OPPO 103 are made in China.   My tuner is made in Canada eh,  Preamp,  Amps, Speakers , and headphones are made in USA.    .....and they did not cost an unreasonable amount.
2psyop's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
2psyop
1,611 posts
 
++ What chayro said. Also. I have a Line Magnetic Audio amp. Very well made and sounds fantastic. It is easy to think all products from China are of poor quality, not all are. But I think resale value could be poor since there exist some many preconceived ideas about Chinese audio quality being substandard.
dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
@audiothesis,

Not a tube amplifier, but a good example of a current Chinese SOTA product. Please review this link and tell us if your build and parts quality requirements are not met. Note the transformers:

https://www.denafrips.com/terminator

3 year fully transferable warranty.

Dave


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