Difference in quality in products made in China?

Additional info..KEF speakers is owned by a Chinese Company, GP Acoustics, based in Hong Kong. KEF's top line speakers are made in the U.K. but their mid and low line speakers are made in China. GP Acoustics also owns Arcam and Celestion.

Why are there so many Asians in western conservatories: because Asians have a physiological advantage. Their hands and fingers are strong and nimble. Their bone structure is considerably different from that of people from European decent. This advantage can carry over into the area of electronics. Look at some of the Japanese products from the 1960's and early 1970's.
As far as intelligence, work ethic and skill is concerned, the Chinese could build and sell Hubble telescopes if it made financial sense for them to do so. By the way, my Quad 2905's sound great and they're built to higher standard than the previous Quads (in my humble opinion). The biggest problem with poorly made Chinese products is that those manufacturers who make cra$ just don't care.

Because of the huge manufacturing "ability" in China, there are many products that are designed in the west but built in China. Some western companies take quality control seriously and others do not.

It's exactly the same with Chinese companies.

Problem is right now the WWW lets us buy from companies that have a web pressesnce, but no real reputation.

Their products initially look good, but ultimately longevity is not their main goal.

Also, many dealers looking to tempt us in to their stores, provide less than stellar quality products sourced form China. It's easy for them to stop selling that product once quality becomes an issue, with the age old line "Oh yes, we stopped selling that brand due to quality issues".

From what I've read on Agon, Pangea is one company that does provide quality products - and I'm sure there are many more.

But it is very much a case of buyer beware :-(

A little old Italian man once told me...

" to trust is good - not to trust is better!"

I have two pairs of 2905's and one pair of 2805's, all made in China.

The 2805's have an adequate fit and finish, comparable to my Quad ESL's. The first pair of 2905's was much better. The second pair of 2905's, from 2-3 years ago, was better yet, and significantly so - they could almost have been German.

What is still missing are the fine details which we hobbyists use and admire: self-threading screws should be teflon coated and anything but Phillips, wires should be 18AWG silver coated, etc. But few manufacturers go that far, Chinese or occidental.

( http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2007-05-06/news/0705050225_1_syrupy-poison-pure-glycerin-diethylene-glycol )