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Difference in quality in products made in China?

There is a belief among many audiophiles that electronics assembled in China or Korea are not as well made as products assembled in the USA and England. This has nothing to do,(I believe) with the "technical abilities" of workers, as it has to do with standards of quality control, and the sourcing of less quality parts throughout Asia

This may be all hogwash and just biased opinion, but this question comes up to often to be quickly dismissed. From my own experience which is limited compared to other members, the products(amps. pre-amps CD players) I have owned that were made in the USA, or UK, and Canada, have been solid in terms of long term reliability. I would like to hear others opinions on this issue.
sunnyjim
cjcomo
4 posts
 
I just bought some Pangea power cables (9ASE & 14AE Signatures), they are well made and sound wonderful. My other cables are Cardas Golden Reference and PS audio I don't believe that they are superior!
audiozen
831 posts
 
Parasound was the first American company in the early 80's
to manufacture offshore in Asia. Their products have been manufactured in Taiwan for over thirty years. The biggest company in China that provides OEM services for Audio companies in Europe and the U.S. is IAG. The International Audio Group. Companies such as Vincent Audio, Cayin, BMC and Prima Luna just to name a few, have all their manufacturing done in China. Many of the mid-line speakers from B&W are made in China at B&W's own factory. All Polk speakers are made in China. The best quality produced in China are American and European companies that have their own employee's living in China to
oversee quality control and production. IAG production of electronics is the best in China. Hi-Vi Corp. in China is right behind IAG. Hi-Vi owns Swans speakers and produce forty thousand speakers a month for a world wide network. They are the largest manufacturer of speaker driver's in Asia and have the largest Anechoic chamber in Asia. They currently have under construction a large production campus of multiple buildings that when complete, will surpass IAG.
audiozen
831 posts
 
Also..as most are aware nowaday's, all laptop and desktop computer's are made in China, a market that China has taken away from Japan during the past seven year's. Japan still hold's strong in the Chip market, high end audio and television's, but in the foreseeable future China
and South Korea will take those market's away from Japan as well leaving them their strongest industry, automobile's.
audiozen
831 posts
 
I neglected to include that 70% of all Luxman products are now made in China by IAG, which also own's Luxman. Other companie's that are now owned by IAG who manufacture's their product's is Wharfedale, Quad, Mission and Castle Speaker's as well as Audiolab.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,706 posts
 
Quality can be found in China but their labor market is shrinking fast, lowering the level of skilled labor available. Those who are already established in Chinese markets have the pick of the labor.

China is also based on a very old system of local "rulers" who have more control over the provinces they live in than the local authorities do. Nissan calls these local elites "little emperors" who must be appeased (by design and features) if sales are to continue at an acceptable rate. It's a different way of doing things.

All the best,
Nonoise
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