I own a Cayin 265Ai 40 watt class A integrated amp that I bought here a little over a year ago, and the build and sound quality are really impressive. Beautiful inside and out. Sounds different from my 300b for sure, timbres aren't as lifelike (surprise...) but beats it in the PRAT department. Amazing value.
- ...
- 23 posts total
The point is not that China can't produce quality gear, it's that China has complete disregard for trademarks, patents and making cheap knock offs, to say nothing about the environment or even human rights. Yes you can buy reputable brand names made in China. But you can also buy junk with an expensive brand name on it, ditto with the parts inside. I'd be cautious with stuff sold on Ebay, many Audioquest and PS Audio knock offs,etc, have been sold there and people ripped off. |
Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Africa, and depending on how the politics go, Cambodia and Myanmar / Burma.Bando, of Japan..the transformer maker...has been using Indonesia for manufacturing it's main line (ie, bulk of transformers made, in numbers) of transformers, for quite some time now. Open up any Japanese (company) amp from the 70's through the 2010's and you might find a 'Bando' transformer in it. http://www.bando.com.my/timeline.htm |
@freediver - I own a number of the amps you mention. They sound very nice. In fact, I have a cheap 25 watt pure Class A Chinese amp that just spent significant time in my main system and I was truly impressed with its performance when matched with much higher priced gear. As people have said, I’m sure parts quality could be better and the designs may not be original (not necessary illegal - a US patent is good for only 20 years and that’s assuming it was patented to begin with). Try one out, you might be surprised. |
- 23 posts total