Do chinese tube preamp/amp clones interest you?


Hi all,

looks like there a quite a few clones of almost iconic gear available, e.g. this is an example
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001822040138.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.4f8c6644HLjQ8o&a...

Have you ever wondered how they sound, are tempted to try them out, maybe even get it as a kit?

Or better even, got them and can report back?

Inquiring minds would like to know,

cheers
brxl
brxl
Looks like a great kit! You have the option to either put an Audio Research label on it make your own! I would use....ACME!

That culture has no boundaries.
ACME +1 I never seen a coyote blow himself up as much as "The Coyote" all with the aid of ACME.. After about the third time, JC Penny's would have been lookin' good... Man change brands... :-)

After how many time you gotta craw out from under neath a rock to hear Beep beep, hunt rats, gotta taste better than "that", scrawny road runner..

Clone, nope...only in their minds... all that stuff is IC right. no point to point. The logic of the board may trace the same but it's not the same. It's not point to point.. Marantz 7, The C22, few of them, ay..

Regards
I think the "clones" that China produces are a theft of intellectual property at best, and are crap in a nice looking case at worst.

China has proven they are capable of producing good equipment AND good brands. Line Magnetic is a perfect example of a Chinese owned brand that was developed in China that people love.  

This kind of stuff is what makes people angry and harms all Chinese manufacturing IMO.
 
Right. That is the first level of concern.

Did they develop the technology? Did they license it? Or did they steal it? How do you feel about buying stolen goods? 

There is another greater level of concern.

Learn a little more, China is actually the PRC- People's Republic of China. Which is by definition the CCP- Chinese Communist Party. Every business is required to have CCP members on their board. So every business even if operating legally by Western norms- ie not outright stealing and copying but actually developing on their own- even then they are still CCP. Fact of the matter is anything bought from China is supporting in one way or another the CCP. 

This may be less well known but look it up, its a fact. And this is much more serious a problem than piracy.

Finally, the icing on the cake, my actual personal experience with made in China. Jungson amp defective, right away, and they not only refused to honor the warranty they lied to my face about it. Worst treatment of anything ever bought in my life. 

So no, Chinese pre amps do not interest me. Cloned or otherwise. 
I would not buy it just so it is not only a picture, as audio2design implied, illustrating a brick that may or may not come in the mail.

I heard that Melody amplifiers, Made in China, are fantastic deal and match Tekton Moabs wonderfully.