Classe move to China

It's unfortunate but the way of the land now. So many companies in the same boat.

I had $10k to spend on a pre/pro and I require a combined stereo/ht rig. I auditioned several and to me nothing matched the sound of the Classe SSP-800. It has been such an awesome addition to my set-up. Nine months in and no quality issues.

I could spend time worrying about Country of Origin for my purchases or try to relax and buy what sounds the best in my budget. The made in China SSP-800 won. In fact because of this quality piece I wound consider any of their products in the future be it amps pre/amp etc.

I work for a major Company and many of our products are JDM in China. I guess I have learned to chill about it.

I just twang the best I can buy for me and sound quality is the only consideration and quality at time of purchase. Classe is excellent.

Rick

Is it made in china, or assembled in china?

Assembled in China. And I am defending nothing and wish everything was made/assembled in the USA but I will share with you about how it is handled at my company.

All Program Managers, Product Managers, Service, Software Engineers etc reside in the U.S. We have an iron fist over the assembly in China. I personally am a Release Operations Manager and my team is responsible for all BOMs and Engineering Change Orders to our products. I deal with these JDMs daily. I can tell you that they cannot even substitute a same value component as a second source part without an ECO being written approved in U.S and implemented in our ERP system and communicated back. There is not one single change that goes undocumented and approved. We are in total control despite Country Of Origin. I know this is heated discussion but I live this stuff for a career. I am sure other companies like Classe manage their products with the same iron fist and there will be no change to product down to the bag it's wrapped in without an ECO and Engineering and Quality approval.

I would worry more about Penang wink wink

Rick

Chinese, Russians and Arabs buying up everything valuable in America including the currency, and they are concerned about Iran and even North Korea?
Well, if we continue like that we will soon be working at their factories in China and speak Mandarin.

Dyn,
I've worked semiconductor manufacturing for decades....in the fab. I've helped make enough ICs and Discrete components to sink a ship. All changes to procedures are vetted and go thru a sign off loop, with the exception of the 'temporary' change which has a few special provisions and has a 24 hour time limit and is used only as an emergency containment or if a specific piece of equipment is down.

But, the REAL question is one of training and quality management system. For example, is the facility in question ISO audited? Are all employees trained and certified in the operations they perform? Are quality records kept? Rework procedures approved and certified? and on and on.