Do you think the Chinese will ever build top notch gear

I seem to remember the same questions being asked about another rising Asian power in the 50/60s, now no one questions the quality of Japanese goods.
We British motorcycle owners used to deride the owners of the little Japanese bikes, well we all know who had the last laugh there.(having said that the current Chinese m-bikes we see in our shop have some way to go yet )

Interesting factory tour here
http://www.sixmoons.com/industryfeatures/roadtourchina/melody.html
as the happy owner of a Melody amp I've got to say their product offers a lot of bang for your money.

 

no

 

The real question isn't will they ever build top class high-end gear, but rather why should they. The high-end audio is a fringe pursuit which doesn't make vast sums of money for those involved. Why would a Chinese company spend their R&D money on the development of a product like the Devialet D-Premier when the official attitude is ambiguous to say the least regarding intellectual property rights, or even tool up to rip off one of Nelson Pass, Mark Levinson, Julian Vereker or Tim de Paravicini's designs to sell less that a thousand units when they can make 10 times more producing mediocre flat-screen TV's that sell multiple container loads?

 

Are we equating high end with high or overpriced items or do we mean good sound with product reliability.
If we aim for the former then you dont need to be Chinese to turn out some absolute rubbish and as for the latter then some brands have already achieved this.

I'm also sure that with such a massive home market that a large percentage of the good stuff doesn't escape far beyond the border. Far easier to deal locally than go through the hassles of exporting, espcially to limited niche markets already oversupplied.

 

Pretty soon we won't be making anything, we will be buying from those that do. Low price makes the sale, and we can't manufacture here as cheaply as China can. Too bad nobody is interested in making "quality" a selling point. Maybe people are not interested in that anymore.

 

Then it wouldn't be top-notch. Maybe we could call it pretty-good-notch.

 

Somehow "top notch Chinese" seems like an oxymoron.

 

I'm sure this thread will get too political and be shut down.

 

Is that all you have to say?

 

Sounds like xenophobia if you ask me. As China has the manufacturing base they are in a position to do what they want. If a company can make money manufacturing SOTA gear in China, they will. Parasound's top-notch JC-1 monoblocks are made in Taiwan, make of that what you will.

 

I'm a man of few words.

 

Chinophobia, to be precise.

 

They can produce everything else why not top notch audio gear?

 

+1

They are building some good stuff, but because they don't have to charge a bomb for it, people tend to think of the products as midrange.

On the other hand, when Red Rose gets Chinese manufactured stuff and manages to sell them at high-end prices, people find out and get upset.

When they get high end enough and manufacture something like the Wavac SH-833, people will hate them even more.

The Chinese can't win...

 

Spot on.

 

What do you mean they can't win! They have won already and the U.S. has lost it's manufacturing base.

 

What he means seems to be the same thing I said—China has already made top-notch gear. Shove all the other considerations aside—your initial question has been answered, move on.

 

The king of low-end audio has spoken!

 

Emotiva amps are made in China. Has anyone here heard them at all? They look nice!

 

Ouan Yin, if you need to ask

Just remember that the nice lady in my avatar runs on Dragon Power.

 

Very cool painting. Must be something to view the original (must be big?).
Like a "vision"...

 

taters, what do you think of this review

 

I think this same question was raised by many americans concerning Japanese Automobiles back in the 70s.......

live and learn.....

It seems many things we cherish and pioneer in the united states can be done not only cheaper but better by other countries.

The united states has the potential to be the best, but its not an automatic thing as many assume. We have to strive to do better, not just say we are better.

Its one thing being the best, a whole different thing, thinking you are the best...!

 

It's really just a question of doing better consistantly. Japanese cars are a good example, they dominate the mid-market but at the high-end even their top models are a poor relation to the best that Germany, Britain and Italy produce.

 

I have an Emotiva CDP and I'm impressed with its build quality, especially for the cost. Its beautiful remote control is all metal and puts most other remotes to shame.



I think my Gallo Ref. 3.1s were manufactured in China. Their performance and build is high-end by any standard.



My 65 pound Jungson amp is is a beautiful hunk of an amp and its remote is milled from a solid block of aluminum.





I had a Xindak amp for a while. Also with stunning build quality and sound.



From my point of view, the Chinese have been building high-end audio for some time already.