Keep in mind Audiophiles represent a very small segment of the population and the average consumer is more than content with a mediocre system. Unless this consumer knows an audiophile that can show them what they have been missing they are satisfied living in ignorance.
I have tried Eastern Electric, the build & sound quality is surprisingly very good. But like any quality piece of gear, changing an amp for example can necessitate another component change for the sake of having synergy in your system, thus the reason you will see these sometimes for sale.
Anyway small upstart companies are in for the fight of their life to compete with much larger, reputable, & well established companies say like Conrad Johnson. It is known that US based, well established companies can afford to buy larger quantities of high quality electronic parts and then pass the savings onto the consumer. In addition it takes large sums of money to design, manufacture and bring to market a newly designed piece of gear.
However a trend of designing gear stateside then having it built to exact specifications with cheap labor overseas has somewhat offset this. On occasions you will see excellent audio engineers emerging in the East that have immediate access to cheap labor & the manufacture of off-brand, high quality parts, so never assume they should all be dismissed as poorly constructed & unreliable pieces of gear.
I have tried Eastern Electric, the build & sound quality is surprisingly very good. But like any quality piece of gear, changing an amp for example can necessitate another component change for the sake of having synergy in your system, thus the reason you will see these sometimes for sale.
Anyway small upstart companies are in for the fight of their life to compete with much larger, reputable, & well established companies say like Conrad Johnson. It is known that US based, well established companies can afford to buy larger quantities of high quality electronic parts and then pass the savings onto the consumer. In addition it takes large sums of money to design, manufacture and bring to market a newly designed piece of gear.
However a trend of designing gear stateside then having it built to exact specifications with cheap labor overseas has somewhat offset this. On occasions you will see excellent audio engineers emerging in the East that have immediate access to cheap labor & the manufacture of off-brand, high quality parts, so never assume they should all be dismissed as poorly constructed & unreliable pieces of gear.