This is very interesting. Can anybody actually name specific pieces of Chinese gear that are "exact copies" of specific pieces of US or European gear? If so, how is this alleged fact known? And how is any of it any different from the perception that there's really not much fundamentally new under the sun in terms of basic tube circuit design over, say, the past 50+ years? And that many 'classic' pieces of 'high end' tube gear since the dawn of the 'high end' have regurgitated basic circuit designs of even more 'classic' provenence? Since when did anybody in this industry have to come up with something 'new' in order to manufacture tube gear, or any gear for that matter? What, other than primarily the labor market there, is so unique about China that they deserve to be singled out in this regard? Making counterfeits of brand name products or committing intellectual property theft of copyrighted works is one thing (and bad labor, trade, and environmental practices another), but using common 'textbook' technology to make a product that's been made hundreds of times before by hundreds of different firms worldwide doesn't seem like something to get too excited about the propriety of. Should all US companies that ever made pocket transistor radios be villified for 'ripping off' Sony? Should Marshall amplifiers be villified for 'ripping off' Fender? And anyway, I was under the impression that a lot of the Chinese gear is designed elsewhere and only manufactured there. I could easily be wrong about any or all of this, since I have no particular knowledge of the whole arena (and have heard zero of the products alluded to in this thread, other than Conrad-Johnson), but if so, please someone spell out for me exactly why and how, because I've seen enough accusations without examples or evidence here.
