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
To make a blanket statement that "Asians have a physiological advantage, their hands and fingers are strong and nimble" is absolutely ridiculous.
While I'm sure there are many Asians who have hands and fingers that are strong and nimble, I'm also sure there are many oafs, butterfingers and ham handed klutzes as well.
IMO: IF (and this is a huge IF) any Asian advantage actually exists it may be one of patience and persistence rather than specific physical traits. And I'm certainly not suggesting all "Asians" are patient or persistent either.
"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."

Goofyfoot you might want to consider, along with those musical experts from conservatories that what make a muscician most proficient is what lays between the ears not some physiological advantage. Hand structure and size may help in easing facility but it doesn't compensate for the brain that sends the signals. I'm sorry, I totally disagree with your observation along with the "experts" you reference. And as Judge Judy is fond of saying, if it doesn't make sense it's not true. There are many examples of great musicians with large and small hands of I'm sure varying bone structure, lest we forget the concert pianist Alicia de Larrocha who at 4'7" in stature had large hands for her size but small hands by normal standards, not ideal for sure, how in the hell did she do it?
Good point Tubegroover. Good example was Beethoven. He was only 5'6" in height and had short but very strong finger's. His two top piano competitor's during the 1790's in Vienna were Hummel and Josef Wolffi and they both had very large hands and long finger's but were no match against Beethoven who never lost a piano competition in the palace's of Vienna between 1792 and 1798. Its all in the mind.
Unfortunately, hand strength and dexterity are issues for classical musicians. Robert Schumann hurt his hand in a device that he made which was intended to give him greater reach, strength and flexibility, however the injury that he suffered ruined his concert playing career and so he took up composing. Hand strength and placing ones hands correctly is a learned way of practicing and is just as much a reality as what happens in the Kirov ballet school in St. Petersburg Russia.
Had I said something derogatory or demeaning towards Asian musicians, then I would apologize. To mention that the Asian students in a school that I am typically at, have a greater likelihood of natural technical ability because of hand strength and dexterity is not only a compliment but something that I've brought up a few times with Asian students themselves. No one was ever offended nor did anyone object. Any context beyond what I just mentioned is emotional froth.

In other words, Goofy, KMA!!!!

Swampwalker you can't even be serious.
"Had I said something derogatory or demeaning towards Asian musicians, then I would apologize. To mention that the Asian students in a school that I am typically at, have a greater likelihood of natural technical ability because of hand strength and dexterity is not only a compliment but something that I've brought up a few times with Asian students themselves. No one was ever offended nor did anyone object. Any context beyond what I just mentioned is emotional froth."

No emotion at all Goofyfoot but as Wolf_Garcia noted with Asians it is probably more of a "numbers game" than any physiological advantage, that's all I'm saying, forget the politics even though underlying stereotyping often leads to erroneous conclusions IME.

Talk about stereotypes, I've got this vision of this hand fetishist professor culling those he deems having the "necessary tools" to become a great musician. Remember, Al Capanis, the VP of the Dodgers back in the mid 80's when asked by Ted Koppel why there weren't more black baseball managers in MLB? And then his obtuse observation that "I truly believe that they may not have some of the necessities..." Was the guy prejudiced? Maybe not conciously but probably unconciously he was or it never would have occured to him to make that comment.

Again, Goofyfoot it just seems that you won't acknowledge that what you and your "experts" are doing is profiling a collective group to fit into a certain mold, a perception that seems to many of us ridiculous as virtually all stereotypes are.