Has anybody bought or heard a Chinese knock off amplifier?

Glupson, “How many people here have bought a knock-off amplifier from North Korea?”

Is not an argument.

OP requests comments on knock-off amps so calling them a bad idea is in bounds.

Audiogon has built a system of trade in which mutual respect and fairness are valued- even a hint of dishonesty would effectively disqualify a seller. At which borders should that end? Under which conditions should theft be rewarded?

I have been to just two well-known audio manufacturers’ “factories” and each was tiny. They became known for innovations in their product lines but I doubt they had millions set aside for hard times and nothing to combat piracy or IP theft. Just another attack on an industry that is barely surviving.  Grado, Gallo, Rogue, VPI, Berkeley, and many others have created innovations which add to the hobby. Theft gives nothing back. If you want to preserve the hobby, you might want to support companies that contribute to it and not those that erode their viability.

I won’t mention counterfeit N95 masks because that’s not part of this discussion.

manorraul,

My question about North Korea was a comment of sorts to a post that preceded it and which mentioned North Korea, nuclear bombs, and in some convoluted way connected that to China, all supposedly having something to do with amplifiers. There was even more in that post, but it is not worth reading again.

"Grado, Gallo, Rogue, VPI, Berkeley..."

Are these common, if at all, targets of Chinese counterfeiters?

As a food for thought, and I do not know the answer, how much is Mark Levinson (from the OP) losing on counterfeit products that cost much much less? Are these counterfeiters really stealing customers? Does anyone intending to buy Mark Levinson actually pick the fake one? Could it be that people who buy fakes would have never bought the real thing anyway?

I am not defending piracy of any kind, just wondering how much real impact it is in audio world? Are there any lost sales? Is it brand erosion? Or is it brand strengthening?

The "barely surviving" industry have themselves to thank for it. They chose to charge absurd, wild markups and content themselves with super high profit margin but low production. Those that have been trying to serve the lower end market decided to do so by pushing their class D junk.

@hiendmmoe 
I bout one expensive, very heavy “Accuphase inspired” China class A amp, which has different China Brand name on it. I inspected components inside, tested it for distortions, output impedance etc, and I didn’t find anything wrong with the amp. Amp has two 700VA toroidal transformers, feeding two separated power supplies for left and right channels. Amp is using Japan made electrolytic, well matched US made power transistors (40 total), and CNC machined enclosure. Amp is NOT Accuphase replica or copy, it has only Accuphase feel. Overall outside look and details are less refined comparing to Accuphase. Internal boards built of expensive “black” material, wiring and layout is very good. Amp has no noise, acoustically and from the speakers, and it is not possible to tell if it is on or off without looking at power LED.
Comparing to original Accuphase class A amp, it sounds little bit more beefy, but little bit less transparent at high freq. end. It beats many US/EU amplifiers, even significantly expensive ones.

To summarize: there are good, very good and bad things come out of China, it is a lottery! 

The OP asked about knock-off products, not products made in China! Apples and Oranges!

Knock-offs can be products that have a confusingly similar overall appearance to the copied products but knock-offs do not contain any identical logos or federally registered brand names. Fashion knock-offs are legal in the U.S. but a counterfeit is not.