China HiFi goes Prime Time

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by avanti1960, Mar 21, 2021.

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  1. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Your Rival EL34 should be a good solid amp. Looks like its auto bias and they normally dial it very conservative. The circuit is simple enough to improve as far as stability to last longer (if you need to) and its not gonna cost you a lot. Its just like owning your guitar amps all the way from the 80's. You need to replace tubes, set the bias. These high fidelity amps are typically the same and just a bit more precise. 1-EL34 on guitars amp is already 11 watts class d. while in your SET amp is 6 watts. Its a good thing that you have one tube per side. That's pretty stable. But if you have 2 or more on each side, that's where the fun begins.
    Great thread. I'm in a hunt for a cassette tape custom rack. I want something like bookshelf style "vertical". Another long road.
    Enjoy.
     
    Funky54 likes this.
  2. Funky54

    Funky54 Coat Hangers do not sound good

    Maybe everyone was done talking about this...

    Tonight I took my cheap Chifi SE amp over to my buddies place again. We hooked it up to his Sensitive Tektons... Man did it sound good. We listened to a Fisher 400 and the Wellsenton.. they all sounded really good. Slightly different flavors, pro’s and Con’s, but wow. I was really proud of that little amp. Such an incredible bargain.
     
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  3. DryWhiteToast

    DryWhiteToast Where's my Ativan

    Does anyone have any contact information on China Hi-Fi ... other than the contact portal they provide on their site.
    Just asking for a friend that ordered something a while ago and is wondering about the tracking/shipping information.

    Thanks Guys,

    Take Care
     
  4. Brother_Rael

    Brother_Rael Senior Member

    Great post. Ming Da, Shanling, Topping and any number of western companies use Chinese facilities to produce their gear.

    If the QA is right, the gear will be too.
     
    tIANcI and TheVinylAddict like this.
  5. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    no worries. the a21 stays, the tube preamp NEVER leaves !
     
    Manimal likes this.
  6. stax o' wax

    stax o' wax Forum Resident

    Location:
    The West
    The pre CBS amps "Blackface" which built Fenders reputation for great sounding amplification did not use inexpensive/cheap parts.
    And the point to point wiring was very well done.
    Post CBS era is when you start seeing cheaper parts and shoddy wiring/ integrated circuits.
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2021
    Classic Car Guy likes this.
  7. danielbravo

    danielbravo Senior Member

    Location:
    Caracas. DC
    Here where I live there are lots of these equipment made in China, many of these with a solid construction but in all honesty they are not always what they appear. The issue of patents or copyrights, user support, and the like are often as important as the apparent quality of one of these amps or cd players. I don't mean to say that there can't be some really "good" ones, but in a way it's a risky gamble.
     
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  8. Funky54

    Funky54 Coat Hangers do not sound good

    I’ve owned at least 20 pre cbs Blackface amps. I would not consider any of the more original ones neat. There were not “cheaper” parts available at the time, there were better. Leo bought the cheapest speakers (Jensen) he could find, he made cabinet parts and baffle boards out of particle board in some amps.. he used whatever he could to keep costs down while yielding the results he wanted sound wise. Please don’t take this wrong. I think Fender made amazing amps, I’m just saying he only went as far as what was reasonable to get to the sound they were after. Profit has to be found to be successful. I love the sound of Jensen and Fender, but the truth is Jensen won because shipping costs locally beat the price of competitors in the day.

    I giged with a Blackface 67 Super Reverb for over 25 years in a wet dry wet rig. (While obviously post sale, most of the circuits and parts in post 65 Blackface Supers, Twins, Deluxes, Pro’s...remained similar until very early 70’s)

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2021
    Shawn likes this.
  9. DrGoon

    DrGoon Forum Resident

    Location:
    St. Petersburg, FL
    It's the same everywhere though, isn't it? The reality is that for those of us outside China, we get to see a particular subset of Chinese products that are attractive locally because of some differentiator that can't be matched in the local market and thus allows somebody selling locally to have a sales angle. Usually that is price, and it can be for any number of reasons. So long as you can find a Chinese product that is well built, fairly marketed, has effective QA and is supported locally, you can probably do as well or possibly better than a locally made product due to current differences in cost and standard of living. You must take care to understand what you are buying however, and that goes for any country of manufacture.

    While its true that China doesn't play on the same playing field with respect to intellectual property, there are any number of non-Chinese companies spending billions on suing each other over copyright and patent infringement, many of which are claims likely founded on dubious merit. There are pros and cons to any system of intellectual property, and I don't believe anybody can claim to have found an entirely fair and equitable system. The best we can likely do in a balkanized world is negotiate towards some position where we all feel equally slighted,
     
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  10. The Curator

    The Curator Forum Resident

    The premium build quality alone of the Topping D50S DAC surprised me. It's certainly no DIY product for sure.

    (Slightly off topic, Quad's Artera CD player is manufactured in China and the presentation/finish is superb. Leaving such superficialities aside it's an exceptional CD player.)
     
    bhazen likes this.
  11. tIANcI

    tIANcI Wondering when the hifi madness will end

    Location:
    Malaysia
    Just had the Matrix Audio X Sabre Pro DAC to test. It’s really good for the price. Beats my Mytek Brooklyn Bridge (used as a DAC) when streaming (Tidal and DSD playback) via the Lumin U1 Mini.
     
  12. inzite

    inzite Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto
    Just got my first chifi (pontus ii) two days ago and it totally re-baselined my expectation, appetite and respect for them. Shockingly well built (visual and feel) with fit and finish on par with top makes - if it had a made in japan/europe/usa sticker on it then I would imagine it could definitely sell well even at double the price. From unboxing to handling to wiring to firing it up overall it instills confident that it is a well thought out and durable product with a long service life. And most of all, it sounds/performs well beyond expectations so far.
     
  13. Manimal

    Manimal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern US
    Capaliscious.
     
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  14. CDV

    CDV Forum Resident

    I was looking for a pair of inexpensive speakers for my son's room, to use them as computer speakers as well as to play music. Obviously, he does not have a boombox ("what is that?") or a separate amplifier ("why would I need that?"), all he has is his smartphone and three pairs of headphones, from large noise-canceling over-the-ear headphones to small in-ear ones. So, the speakers should be active, should have line input, should have Bluetooth as well.

    A quick look on Amazon showed Polk speakers for $80 (passive), and heavily discounted Klipsch, from $140 to $90, also passive. On Klipsch's website I found R-41PM, which are pretty much what I was looking for, but they are $400, and not available currently. Also, the big photo of the back side of the speakers shows "Made in China". The comments show that a couple of users had their speakers broken after 11 and 13 months.

    One of the better known Chinese brand is Edifier, they make active speakers with nice features for attractive price. Their $100 model has neither Bluetooth nor USB input, the $130 model has Bluetooth. These speakers also have line input, volume control and bass/treble control. Nice!

    And then I found a pair of speakers from a totally unknown Chinese brand, Bestisan (no, it is not because they are beasts, but because the company prouds itself as "best artisan... and better than most", huh. $80 for a pair of active speakers with two line inputs, Bluetooth, USB input, volume control, bass/treble control and remote. They are very similar to the Edifier, but have more features for lower price. So, I bought them! And they work pretty well. They have three audio modes: normal, movie and music. In normal mode they sound kinda flat, but in music mode bass and treble are elevated, and it seems some other processing is going on, so the sound stage is more panoramic.

    When I was the age as my son, I had a pair of speakers about the same size that came with a record player; the record player had a built-in amp. They were never as powerful as these Chinese ones, did not have as much bass coming from a 4-inch driver. Technology has greatly improved in the last decades.

    Anyway, just my 5 cents on Chinese audio.
     
  15. realgone

    realgone Forum Resident

    Location:
    Singapore
    Still waiting for my Pontus to come in. Seems it's backlogged again a few weeks. Hopefully will be a nice step up from the Area.
     
    inzite likes this.
  16. james

    james Summon The Queen

    Location:
    Annapolis
    That narrows it down to Nagra
     
  17. Jerry

    Jerry Grateful Gort Staff

    Location:
    New England
    Politics will get this thread closed, so please refrain.
     
    Shawn likes this.
  18. Tony C.

    Tony C. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portugal
    I'd be happy to refrain, but the deleting of comments appears to be rather selective. Why is it necessary for me (or others) to shine light on ignorant anti-China comments, which would likely remain otherwise, before they are deleted?
     
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  19. Jerry

    Jerry Grateful Gort Staff

    Location:
    New England
    I can’t read every post, so the ones that are reported get first cut. From here on, let’s all stay on topic, avoid politics, and there won’t have to be debate on moderation actions.
     
  20. norliss

    norliss Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cardiff, Wales
    I got to page 8 and gave up.
     
  21. tIANcI

    tIANcI Wondering when the hifi madness will end

    Location:
    Malaysia
    ‘Politics’ here is started by those who have not experienced the China branded component but they have a bias based on their political belief. Basically, China not good, don’t buy.

    If someone has used the China component and found it to be lacking that’s fine. It’s a personal experience. Great to hear about it so others can make better informed decision.

    I know the distributor of a good UK brand of digital components who informed me they were uneasy with the return rate, return for warranty claims. My own Italian integrated was sent back to distributor after 12-14 months, a board kaput. Had to wait about 6-8 weeks for a new board. Took that long. Does not make sense.

    China brands got lemons, Western brands got lemons. It happens. Question at hand is whether there is value for money.
     
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  22. inzite

    inzite Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto
    Yeah, they produce them in batches of probably a few dozens. From clicking buy on vinshine to when it arrived at my door it was probably around 3 weeks or just slightly under - I have unboxing pics in the denafrips thread here. From all feedback I have seen online I believe you will hear the upgrade right out of the box. You'll also need your own power cable as the pontus and above does not come with one. I'm using a cullen cable one and it's good for the money.
     
    realgone likes this.
  23. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    The answer to that is a solid yes, which is the original message of this thread.
     
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  24. Manimal

    Manimal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern US
    I’m super happy with the Willsenton R8.
     
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  25. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    Yes, yours and the Muzishare seem to be growing in popularity. It would be interesting to compare them to some western made amps of similar spec but literally 3X the cost.
     
    Manimal likes this.
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